CENTRE CULTUREL DE GITEGA

This place devoted to reading is the result of an initiative led by Antoine Kaburahe, the director of the weekly Iwacu. In the centre of Gitega, a few metres from the tree that marks the geographical centre of Burundi, the Cultural Centre combines the verb «gusoma» which means to read, but also drink. In a Belgian colonial house, there is «The American Corner», a space supported by the US Embassy in Burundi, which offers books in English and a free Broadband Internet connection. The French-speaking area, with French-speaking books collected in Belgium, is open free of charge and offers books to the young people of Gitega. The aim of this centre initiated by Burundians in the diaspora is to promote young people's love of reading, circulation of books. In the wood garden, the work of two Swiss cabinetmakers, «The Canjo Space» (in homage to Canjo Amissi, a late Burundian singer) greets the bar-restaurant. Menus are simple but well prepared.