Burundi is supposed to hold presidential and general elections in the near future and the Anglican Church does not want what happened in the past to occur when youth were used by politicians to cause mayhem during and after the elections. Many lives were lost in past elections because people belonging to different political parties attacked one another with machetes, bow and arrows, spears and guns.

''It is because we do not want confusion and killings during elections that the Anglican Church has been helping prepare its young people to promote peace and reconciliation.'' said the Rev. Daniel Uwimana, an Anglican priest and one of the coordinators of the training.

He said that the youth make up almost half of Burundi's total population, and with high unemployment they are viewed as vulnerable to all sorts of manipulation. He said they aim to address some of the social issues and challenges they face by empowering young people through training.

''We train the youth so that they become promoters of peace rather than thugs who enjoy killing others. We want them to act as peer educators in their communities.'' said Uwimana.

One of the trainers, Lucas Katooto said that during the training they mainly focus on identifying the potential that young people have and how they can use it to promote peace and reconciliation.

He said; ''We make youth identify their potential in the country's politics. We help them to come up with a platform where they can discuss social matters that are relevant to the community. They also discuss ways in which problems affecting the country can be solved."

One of the beneficiaries, Solomon Kwizira said; "Before being trained I hated all those who had different political opinions from mine. I disliked those in different political parties from mine. But now I know that everyone has a right to subscribe to a political party of his choice and there is no need to hate him."

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