Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa. Although the country is landlocked, much of the southwestern border is adjacent to Lake Tanganyika. Burundi is one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Africa. It is also one of the poorest largely due to civil wars.

In 2008 Interplast Holland got in touch with André Nkeshimana, President of IZERE (an association of Burundi people living in The Netherlands).
After a year of preparations and close cooperation with Izere, Interplast was able to sent out a team to Burundi in June 2009. As in every African country the team saw a lot of patients with burn contractures through failure to treat fresh burns. But what was especially striking for the team was the vast number of people with cleft lip and/or palates.

During this first mission the team was able to operate 111 patients. In the years to come the Interplast programme will continue and expand in Burundi.