How Thierry N. From Burundi Supports Children’s Education on Idealist Days

Thierry N. from Bujumbura, Burundi was just 16 years old when he dedicated his career to supporting children in need.

Growing up in Burundi’s largest city, Thierry spent his childhood next to the gorgeous Lake Tanganyika. He’d run around the ports with his siblings and swim at the lake’s sandy beach after school. Eventually, Thierry’s curiosity for the world around him (and kind heart!) led him to realize that not everyone in his country was as fortunate as he was.

“My family was able to afford school supplies, but many of my classmates did not have enough money,” Thierry says. “I began my journey in social service when I started a small community group dedicated to helping vulnerable people.”

Thierry launched a community group with three friends that eventually led him to found the nonprofit Kazoza Initiative. The mission is simple: to educate, empower, and uplift vulnerable children and youth in Burundi through learning, compassion, community service and school materials. Thierry set up a free site on Wordpress to share stories of Kazoza Initiative’s campaigns, but he was having trouble finding more supporters and volunteers.

“I had a great team in Burundi, but we wanted to do even more,” Thierry says. “That’s when I found Idealist.”

Connecting local changemakers through Idealist Days

A simple google search introduced Thierry to Idealist, which helps organizations like Kazoza Initiative find paid staff, volunteers, and community action participants. He quickly set up an organization profile so he could find volunteers to update the website, submit grant proposals, and support campaigns in Burundi.

Idealist Days was a serendipitous discovery that motivated Thierry to focus on Kazoza Initiative’s education-focused activities. In honor of the global movement—where monthly action takes place on dates when the month and day are the same number—Thierry started planning meetings to connect with other social-impact leaders and entrepreneurs in Burundi.

“It’s been amazing work for me,” Thierry says. “It gives me hope that what we are doing with Idealist is sowing seeds for the future.”

On Idealist Day 5/5, Thierry welcomed ten other young people to a discussion on how they could improve local collaboration. For the next two months, Thierry’s Idealist Days group in Burundi hosted monthly conversations, meetings, and skill-shares to help each other grow their individual initiatives. 

On Idealist Day 8/8, Thierry joined one of the group’s participants to visit Prince Louis Rwagasore Clinic in Bujumbura, where they visited patients in the surgery ward.

“Building a community of volunteers takes time, patience, and consistent engagement,” Thierry says. “When I created the Burundian Idealist WhatsApp Group, more than 15 leaders initially expressed interest in joining the initiative. This experience on Idealist Day reminded me that transforming initial interest into sustained participation is an important part of community leadership.”

In September, the Burundian Idealist Days group celebrated Idealist Day 9/9 by visiting a local school. The idea was organized by Tzedakah Goodwill, which was founded by a fellow Idealist Days participant. The group was able to provide 82 children from at-risk families with school kits filled with pencils, notebooks, and other learning materials to support their education.

“Social impact becomes stronger when we move from isolated efforts to connected action,” Thierry says. By linking up with other people in his community who have a desire to build a better world, Idealist Days in Burundi has flourished.

Thierry’s Kazoza Initiative lends volunteers to the organization’s Idealist Days activities, but Thierry is always looking for more support. His dream is to see Kazoza Initiative’s mission expand outside of Burundi so that no child stops learning because of poverty.

“I’m learning from my fellow Idealist Days participants, from my volunteers, from my community, and I’m doing my own research on how to keep growing,” Thierry says. “We’re still planning Idealist Day 11/11, but we’ll invite more people to join us.”

***

If you’re wondering how to launch an Idealist Days group in your local community, here are a few steps to get started:

• Sign up to get involved in Idealist Days, and stay in touch by registering for the free Idealists in Action newsletter, sent monthly.
• Start small by gathering friends, co-workers, or family members to talk about how you can make a positive impact in your local community once a month on Idealist Days.
• As you grow, post your event on Idealist’s Global Calendar via Luma to invite others in your area to join you for projects.