MUKAZA, Sept 29 (ABP) – The United States Ambassador to Burundi, Lisa Peterson, honored with her presence a reading session held on the evening of Thursday, September 25, 2025, organized by the reading club of the publishing house “Gusoma Editions”, located in Bujumbura.
The book featured during the session was “Team of Rivals”, written by Doris Kearns Goodwin and originally published in October 2005.
Lisa Peterson, who was the keynote speaker at the reading session, explained that the book focuses on the political genius of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States from the Republican Party (1861-1865), who stood out for resolving interpersonal conflicts, abolishing slavery, and ending the American civil war.
To achieve this, Abraham Lincoln formed a government team composed of both Republicans and Democrats in an effort to unite a nation that was deeply divided during the Civil War.
According to the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi, Abraham Lincoln was an incredible strategist who embodied transformational leadership for the good of the country.
During discussions with university professors and other participants around this work by an American author, it was suggested that revisiting the histories of countries that managed to rebuild after difficult times is essential, and this can be done through reading in order to learn.
The leaders of Gusoma Editions expressed their appreciation for Ambassador Lisa Peterson’s presence and for having shared the contents of “Team of Rivals” in English for the first time. They noted that previous reading sessions had all been conducted in French. They advocated for a partnership with the U.S. Embassy to Burundi to help develop literary skills in English, as it is increasingly spoken by the majority of the world’s population.