Better late than never, here are a couple of videos that I shot at the disarmament ceremony I visited – you can read my description of the ceremony here.
This one shows the scene just before the ceremony started – you can see the townspeople there in Sunday Best, the women’s dance group and traditional musicians waiting to perform, the drummers performing, and a group of former combatants waiting for the ceremony – as well as the weapons ready to be handed in:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4xbv6bHqcY
And, because I haven’t found anything like this before, here is a clip of the Burundian women’s dance, performed by one of the best groups in the country. The musicians are in pink shirts on the right of the screen, although the women are (slightly incongruously) blowing the whistles.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDKfaM4TxqA
Posted By Laura Gordon
Posted Aug 4th, 2009