Church Leaders Donate New Medical Equipment To First Lady’s Hospital Charity in Bujumbura, Burundi

A delegation from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints led by Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, Africa Central Area President, and Christian Mavinga, Rwanda/Burundi Mission President, held productive meetings with Burundi’s Prime Minister and First Lady in Bujumbura in mid-January 2023. The delegation announced the donation of vital medical equipment for the Umugiraneza Hospital.

Burundi Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca received the Church delegation in his office on 18 January. They talked about potential development projects in the areas of agriculture, irrigation, and health services. They also discussed the Church’s legal status in Burundi, first granted in 1992.

The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation for the church’s charitable work and willingness to continue collaborating in various humanitarian fields. He observed that people with empty stomachs tend not to hear the word of God. Elder Carpenter cited the Twelfth Article of Faith, which states that Church members believe in “being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.”

On 19 January the delegation was received by Angeline Ndayishimiye, the First Lady of Burundi. They discussed the Church’s donation of a large amount of new medical equipment to the Umugiraneza Hospital in Bujumbura. This donation was organized under the auspices of the First Lady’s foundation, Bonne Action Umugiraneza, and it includes laboratory, maternity, and ophthalmological equipment.

The First Lady remarked that we should never forget where we come from, what we have become, and where we are going. The goal of her foundation is to make the Umugiraneza Hospital the primary hospital of reference in her country.

Concluding her remarks, she said, “I thank the delegation from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for its contribution of medical equipment to the Umugiraneza Hospital. [You] preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ by participating in good works.”