“I have young sons who must have stolen the camera and taken pictures without me knowing.”
Damien is a seventy-seven-year-old coffee farmer from Nkonge hill in Burundi who seems to carry his walking cane, worn leather hat and good sense of humour everywhere he goes. The last time that Damien held a copy of his photograph was when he applied for his national identity card in the early 1960s.
He waved his cane wildly in the air a couple of times when talking about his photos, laughing at himself when he couldn’t quite make out what he had tried to capture. “I have young sons who must have stolen the camera and taken pictures without me knowing,” he told us while flicking through his stack of printed photos for the first time. Damien comes from a big but tightly-knit family. He has over thirty grandchildren, and the youngest love walking to his house to spend time with their sokuru1.
“In our family, everyone helps with coffee. During the coffee harvest, we all pick our coffee cherries and carry them to the washing station.”
My grandchildren and neighbor’s children. They were playing together, and I asked them to raise their hands so that I could take their photo. I enjoy playing with my grandchildren. They come to my house to play. I can also ask them to help me with things if my wife is not at home, like fetching water.
My house is on the left. These clothes were out to dry. We use tree branches to hang our clothes on.
My grandchildren are in this photo. They were playing with the neighbors’ children when they asked grandpa to take a photo, then others came who also wanted to be in the picture. I enjoy having a big family. We are close and have good relationships.
Beans are very important in Burundi. I think all over the world they are eating beans. We eat more beans than Rwanda.
This cow belongs to my niece. It has its own room in their house. It’s really fat, which pleases me.
My neighbor was sitting in front of his banana trees. He took this position just for the photo.
Footnotes
Sokuru (Kirundi: grandfather)
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
When she was just sixteen years old, a student named Emilienne fell in love and dropped out of school, choosing marriage over her schoolbooks. In 1993, just four years later, she tragically lost her young husband to the civil war ensuing the assassination of Burundi’s first democratically elected president. Emilienne was five months pregnant with their third child at the time.
“Family is very important to me. When I lost my husband, my mother and brothers helped me with everything.”
Burundi still has ways to go when it comes to the laws underpinning a woman’s right to inheriting, controlling and owning land. She put up an incredible fight when her in-laws tried to chase Emilienne and her two young girls out of her late husband’s home. With a loan from her mother and the support of her brothers, Emilienne was able to buy a piece of land and build a bigger home for her growing family.
“My favorite thing about being a mother is that when you have children, you are not alone.”
It was years later when she would meet Salvator, a widowed coffee farmer from a neighboring hill. Despite living apart from one another for several years, Emilienne and Salvator have since raised four children together. They still walk to see each other every day, and are waiting until their eldest children are married before moving in together.
The last time I had a photo of myself, I was seventeen years old. It was a picture taken by a priest, but stolen during the war. I will keep this photo in my house and always look at it.
I built this house alone. I am proud to have this big house because when I got married, we were living in a small house. My mother helped me by giving me a loan and I am still paying her back.
My son Irakoze’s chickens. He took this picture.
A poster in my brother’s house. It’s beautiful. Hanging in front is paper from notebooks that we cut to make decorations. My son learnt how to make them at school.
My brother’s son and daughter. Family is very important to me. During my single life, my brothers helped me so much.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
Apollinaire has grown coffee for more than four decades but rarely had the chance to taste it.
“I only drink coffee when they give it to us at the washing station. Coffee is sweet. I like it more than tea.”
Like many other coffee-farming parents in Burundi, Apollinaire has gone to great lengths teaching his children how to grow and care for coffee. “Children don’t want to grow coffee because they know that their parents have already planted it. They’ll wait until we are no longer around to farm our coffee”, he sighs. “In general, young people are lazy and don’t enjoy farming that much. They are different from older people.”
As the head of three coffee farming associations and an active member of other community-based projects, Apollinaire is also a leader in his community. “It was the first time that I’d heard of farmers having cameras and taking photos,” he says, “but I know that when I show people the photos that I took, it will bring them much joy and happiness.”
At my brother’s house. I took this because I knew I would be getting it back. The last time I had a photo of myself was when I got my identity card in 2005.
A coffee plantation. The cherries were red and ripe. Athanase, my friend, is on the bicycle. He was borrowing it so that he could deliver his coffee to the washing station.
My cow. It’s very important to me. It gives me fertilizer and it will give birth soon. I’m happy because then I will have milk to sell and give to my grandchildren.
These are small zucchinis that I planted in my coffee plantation. We eat the root and the leaves, but they also protect the soil.
My big tea plantation that has been stolen by my cousin. We went to court and I won the case, but my cousin’s workers are still picking tea in the plantation. This is something that hurts me, but I hope in the future I will have it back again.
This is where we sell our tea and it gets put in the truck. I drink it, but coffee is sweeter, and I like it more than tea.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process, but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
“We know that people who buy the coffee are interested to know where it comes from.”
With her loveable personality and seemingly endless wisdom, Dorothy is an anchor in her community. At forty-three years old, she’s no stranger to farming coffee. Her family has been growing it since the 1970s. Farming coffee isn’t difficult, she says, but it takes diligence and hard work.
“Coffee is like raising a child. You have to wash them, nurture them, and look after them.”
The happiest moment in Dorothy’s life was when she learned that she was pregnant. Having been told by doctors that she wouldn’t be able to conceive, falling pregnant with her first daughter (and the five children that followed) was a tremendous source of joy.
Dorothy tries to include her children in the farming process as much as she can, passing on what she’s learned from her grandmother. Growing up, Dorothy’s mom gave her to her grandmother to be raised because she had little means to do so by herself.
“My grandmother became the person who taught me about life and the way to live. She taught me everything I know.”
When she goes out to work on their family’s fields, her youngest daughter tends to follow. She’s recently been teaching her children about the effects of soil erosion, and what they can do to protect the soil. Together, they are planting vegetables around their home and in the small plot of land behind their house to prevent the soil from eroding in the future.
“What is most important though is to lead by example. If I pick up a hoe, they’ll follow and also pick up a hoe.”
Dorothy’s hope for her children is that they finish school but continue to farm, because to her, farming is life.
“The legacy that I would like to leave is to plant coffee trees, so that my children can look at them in the future and say, ‘My mom planted these’.”
“I want to teach them that those coffee trees are not permanent; that they must change them when they get old, so that their children will see them in the future.”
“I was taking photos, hour by hour, of my everyday activities. When you wake up, you wash your face and brush your teeth.”“I was going to plant yams.” “An association has helped farmers to keep bees. I was bored staying home, only doing housework. So, I thought let me go out and work with others. As a woman, if you just do housework people think you are not a very important person. I haven’t got a lot of honey…yet.”“I gave my children each a chicken and one rooster to share. I gave each of my blessings a blessing. Now we will see who gets more chickens. It’s like a test of the blessings. I have to teach them how to have a small business. We don’t know. If school doesn’t go well, the children can start with an idea of what they can do in the future.” “We were ready to go to church.” “I took this because of climate change. There is a disease affecting the coffee trees. The coffee cherries are not nice. Some have not ripened, others have dried out. I threw this coffee away.”
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process; but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
“I liked seeing other people’s photos and hearing their opinions. Doing that, getting closer as a community, helps us to grow.”
Salvator is a forty-two year old coffee farmer from Gaharo hill in Burundi. He comes from a big family, and is a father to four young children- all of whom he dotes on.“Family is so important to me, especially children. Without them, you cannot be happy.”
During the week, Salvator is not just focused on farming. He is also a member of a Village Savings and Loan Association, the Red Cross, and a traditional brick-making association. It’s not uncommon for people to travel all the way from Bujumbura, the country’s capital city, to the northern province of Muramvya1 to buy the bricks that are made in this region.
“One of the association’s laws is ‘ubuntu’ or humanity. It is important for me to have ubuntu where I live, in my community.”
To have “Ubuntu” is to respect, love and help each other so that we can grow together. In Kirundi (the local language spoken in Burundi) “Ubuntu” refers to the grace and humanity of each person that can be shown to other people. It is a complex term that comes from the Bantu languages mostly spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has many interpretations and definitions, but is commonly translated as, “I am because we are.”
“My mom is on the right with my sister who was carrying a baby. They were preparing traditional banana wine that we were going to give as a gift to a relative who was having a party. This is important to me, because no one can manage to prepare a party alone without the help of family, neighbors, and friends. We also used to prepare the wine to drink at home but now there is a disease that attacks the bananas, turning the plant’s leaves yellow. When one banana is attacked, all the trees in the plantation are infected. I had 23 bananas trees but now I have only 5. This disease has particularly affected Munyinya2 hill where you can only see a desert where there were once bananas plantations…”
“A salon that belongs to my brother-in-law. He promised to teach me how to style hair.”
“Our Village Savings and Loan Association of twenty members from the neighborhood. We meet twice a month, and everyone contributes the money he/she has. We use this money to give loans to the members and they reimburse with interest. After one year everyone receives the amount they contributed, and we share the interests from loans.”
“I am a member of an association called Dufyature turwanye nyakatsi (Kirundi: “Let’s make bricks and fight against houses made entirely of straw”). We make bricks to sell. This man was finalizing our kiln so that we could fire the bricks. After the sale, we keep the capital in the association’s fund, share the profits, and pay communal tax. We manufacture these bricks ourselves without outside labor and we sell them twice a year.”
“The man had just helped this woman putting the bricks down and she was happy because they were heavy and difficult to carry. The people who do this job have to climb over a mountain to carry the bricks from where they are made to the main road. It’s hard work that is done by poor people who don’t have another choice.”
Footnotes
Muramvya is a province in the central part of the country, and also Salvator’s home province.
Munyinya hill is a distinct geo-political region in the Muramvya Province.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process; but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
“You should never expect something from someone, but we can grow together. Every time I see my friends, we have the same greeting, “Mugenzi, ntuzerinze.”
My friend, don’t expect something.”
Concilie took on the moniker Mama Claude after the birth of her eldest son, Claude. In Burundi (as in many African countries), it’s tradition that a mother takes on the name of her firstborn child. Her wonderful sense of humor, poise, and humility seem to know no bounds.
Mama Claude’s modest brick home, with its teal-blue door and walkway lined with banana trees, is built close to the dirt road that runs through Gahaga hill in Burundi. She lives here with a brood of children and grandchildren- not all hers. If you ever pass by her house, it’s rare to find her there. She’s most likely out working in a field somewhere, whether it’s her own plot of land or helping a friend. As an active member of a Women’s Village Savings and Loan Association, and the Red Cross Association, she’s always busy with something.
Most mornings, she’s up before the sun, cooking breakfast for her family and small team of laborers before heading out the door for the day, a thermos of hot tea in hand.
Mama Claude started farming in 1970, when she was just sixteen years old. She doesn’t just farm coffee; she’s also a tea farmer, and grows an assortment of subsistence crops to sell and feed her family. To her, growing coffee is the means to nourishing her family. Over the years, she’s divided up 600 coffee trees between her eleven grown children, leaving her now with just sixty to look after.
“When I was younger, I was stronger and could farm more quickly.”
At age sixty-six, she now finds it more difficult to farm. The changing climate has brought about significant challenges to coffee farmers in Burundi: prolonged drought, delayed rains and at times not enough rain. The soil, she says, is not as fertile as it used to be and erosion occurs more frequently. Before, people in her community used to plant without using fertilizer and could expect high yields. Now, it’s difficult to grow crops without animals or fertilizer because the soil has become too acidic.
“It’s sad to see someone farming who doesn’t get production. We have to work together to improve our production, our well-being and the well-being of those who buy our crops.”
“I was in my kitchen cooking dinner. I was going to cook taro1 on firewood and had just lit a lamp that I bought on credit. Sometimes my children help me to cook but this is my job.”
“This is Melanie. We are in an association called Twungurane ubumenyi which means “Improving our skills together”. We’ve been taught how to build a kitchen garden. I took this picture because she has a nice kitchen garden with many kinds of vegetables. You cannot be a member of this association without having a kitchen garden.”
“An employee who was painting our new house with red-colored cement. Even if building a house requires a lot of money, it provides good health and honor in the community. As the house has many rooms, we will be hosting guests. We will give our old house to our young children who are still studying, and we hope that they will transform it.”
“A man who was looking for clay. In one ditch, you can find different kinds of clay. At the top, there is a black clay and after digging deeply, you can find gray clay that can make good quality and expensive bricks.”
“I took this picture of the tiles to show development. When you use them, it is like taking a step forward. Making tiles requires a special clay that you cannot find everywhere. Tiles are less expensive than metal sheets and last for many years.”
Footnotes
1. Taro is a white-fleshed root vegetable that has a mildly sweet taste and a texture like potato. It is widely grown and eaten in Burundi.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process; but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
Gervais is a seventy-nine year old coffee farmer from the small, coffee-producing nation of Burundi, East Africa. He started farming coffee in 1960, when Burundi was just two years shy of gaining its independence from Belgian rule. As the oldest person in his community, he has dubbed himself as the “grandfather of Gaharo hill”; the area where he lives and grows his coffee. That, and the fact that his grandchildren seem to follow him wherever he goes.
“My house is close to the road. Children in the community often pass by my home to visit. I am also the oldest person in my community. I am like the grandfather of Gaharo hill.”
Growing up, his father- a traditional beekeeper- taught him how to build a beehive from the wood of the umwungo tree(more commonly known as polyscias fulva, an evergreen indigenous to Burundi). Even though he never became a beekeeper himself, Gervais still grows these trees to sell the wood.
If you ask him, Gervais will tell you that his coffee farm is a source of pride and joy. He used to have just under 300 Heirloom Bourbon coffee trees planted on the same plot of land that his house stands on, but as he’s gotten older, he’s started giving them away to his children. As an avid member of Farmer Field School, Gervais’ coffee farm is a model that other farmers in the community can visit to learn best farming practices from him.
“The governor of Muramvya1 once visited my plantation during a local spraying campaign because it is so nice.”
Over the years, he has planted banana palms, bamboo, and avocado trees alongside his coffee to diversify his farm and protect the soil. At one point, he even started a red wiggler worm farm. More recently, Gervais has started producing organic fertilizer for his coffee trees by composting banana stalks and leaves with ash leftover from cooking.
When we asked Gervais what he’ll do with the photos he took, he replied,
“I am going to show my children the photos I took. I want them to remember that I worked in coffee.”
“This is my grandchild. He always comes with me to my plantation. He follows me, wherever I go. He knows that coffee is important. He knows that if we have coffee, we have rice.”
“I was pruning my trees. I always wear my suit. When I was young, I had many suits. Now, I only have this one.”
“My daughter. She was watering the vegetables outside our house.”
“The women who were sorting coffee at the washing station. I love this washing station. It’s encouraging to see women working in coffee, looking after plantations and earning money.”
Footnotes
Muramvya is a province in the central part of the country, and also Gervais’ home province.
“Before + Now” is dedicated to bringing the voices of marginalized coffee farmers into the field of vision of everyday coffee consumers. It includes a series of photographs made by coffee farmers in Burundi, East Africa as well as a large-format portrait of each farmer. This series makes it possible not only to see life in East Africa and the coffee process; but also to connect clearly with the dreams, fears, and hopes of coffee farmers. Read more about “Before + Now” here.
