Gihosha : vulnerable children in an orphanage without adequate care

SOS Médias Burundi

Bujumbura, January 6, 2026 – The Oasis Orphanage in Gihosha, located near Mount Sion Gikungu in the north of the commercial capital Bujumbura, hosts 18 children but faces serious child care and protection issues. Neighbors denounce the deplorable living conditions and the lack of qualified staff to care for the children.

According to several accounts, the children are subjected to traditional, non-medicalized care practices, endangering their health. Orphanage officials use non-medical methods to treat certain illnesses, which can lead to serious complications. One disturbing example is luectomy : a passerby witnessed three children—aged two to ten months—undergo this procedure in a single day. The staff responded that this was “standard practice.”

The orphanage does not conduct basic medical examinations, including serological tests, before admitting children, exposing them to a high risk of infection from communicable diseases.

The staff caring for the children are largely under-trained : most have only a general education, and only one or two have university degrees. This lack of training contributes to the children’s precarious situation and poverty.

The founder, a priest who died about five years ago, established the institution independently, without affiliation to the Church. Since his death, the situation has deteriorated.

The majority of the children, who are very young, require constant care and special attention, but the current conditions at the orphanage do not allow for these needs to be met. Unlike other similar facilities, no doctor or nurse visits regularly to monitor the children’s health, according to a source close to the institution.

Neighbors are calling on the relevant authorities to intervene quickly to protect these vulnerable lives and place the children in facilities capable of providing them with appropriate care and support.