The beat of a community

The Monitor's Africa correspondent and I were working on stories about reconciliation 12 years after the genocide that swept through Rwanda and its lesser-known neighbor, Burundi.

In a suburb outside Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi, we heard the sound of drums and headed in that direction. A local teenage drumming team was rehearsing outside a community center – and several youngsters were copying their movements. I love the universality of the image – little boys looking up to older ones. You just know they want to join that drumming team when they grow up.

As photojournalists, welearn to react to situations as they unfold in front of us. Sometimes we happen upon an unexpected event that is a gift – such as these drummers – and run toward it to capture images to bring home to share.