GAZELLE FOUNDATION
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Mission Statement
The Gazelle Foundation constructs water systems in Burundi, Africa for rural populations.
About This Cause
The Gazelle Foundation funds and builds clean water projects in Burundi, Africa. Founded in 2006 in Austin, Texas by a group of runners interested in helping others, the Gazelle Foundation has constructed 18 systems in the mountainous Bururi Province, serving 35,000+ rural villagers. Locally, we empower Central Texas youth through water education with events like Walk for the Water. One of the poorest countries on earth, most people in rural Burundi walk over two miles for untreated water from streams and puddles, often shared with livestock. Illness from waterborne infections is high, and a major factor in limiting access to education and economic stability. Through clean water projects, the Gazelle Foundation is offering a first step in breaking the vicious cycle of poverty in Burundi. The Foundation’s formation was inspired by Gilbert Tuhabonye, a Burundi survivor of the Hutu/Tutsi civil upheaval of the 1980′s and 90′s which reached a “peace” agreement in 2008. Gilbert was born in the southern county of Songa in Burundi, a small mountainous country in east central Africa. He excelled as a runner, becoming national champion in the 400 and 800 meters as an 11th grader. On October 21, 1993, the centuries-old war between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes erupted as Gilbert and his classmates were in school. His Hutu classmates, their parents, some teachers and other Hutu tribesmen forced more than a hundred Tutsi children and teachers into a room where they beat and burned them to death. Gilbert, on fire, ran to freedom and survived this horrific event.