While the political crisis in Burundi continues, the Community of Sant'Egidio is close to the poorest sections of the population: children and the elderly. Yesterday in the neighborhood of Kinama, in the northern outskirts of Bujumbura, a delegation from Rome, composed by Mons. Matteo Zuppi and don Francesco Tedeschi, helped in the distribution of a part of the food aid collected through the campaign of solidarity promoted by the Community.

There were more than 300 people including the elderly and children with their families and they each received a 6-kilo food parcel containing beans, rice, sugar and soap.

In the coming days the distribution will touch other parts of the city, where life is becoming more and more difficult. The demonstrations and the economic crisis have led to the closure of many businesses, and for many old people that live alone and can not move to other neighborhoods, this kind of help is essential to continue to live. In this period, many poor people in Burundi suffer because of isolation and violence, the presence of the Community of Sant'Egidio, which supports them and knows them in a personal way, is a barrier to a climate of conflict in which the poor risk being the main victims.