● Date and Time: Friday, January 23, 2026 5:00 PM - 7:00 Pm
● Location: Gitega Study Space, Gitega, Burundi
● Organized by: Bitdevs Gitega
● Registration link: https://www.clooza.com/events/FOSS2026
The 7th Socratic Seminar of BitDevs Gitega marked a strong and symbolic start to the year 2026 for our developer community. Beyond the technical learning environment, this session served as a meaningful moment of reconnection, where participants took time to exchange New Year wishes and reaffirm their shared commitment to learning, building, and contributing to the Bitcoin and FOSS ecosystem. The seminar also represented an important technical milestone for the program. A dedicated session was led by Advaxe NDAYISENGA, who introduced participants to the Cashu protocol, following the official approval of BTC Shule’’s local Cashu mint granted for community use. This represents a strategic advancement in our journey toward building practical, locally relevant financial tools. During the session, participants explored: ● The fundamentals of the Cashu ecash protocol
● How a local community mint operates
● Privacy-preserving digital cash concepts
● Use cases of Cashu within community-based tools and applications
This topic resonated strongly with participants, especially given Burundi’s realities of intermittent internet access and infrastructure limitations. Cashu was widely recognized as a powerful tool for enabling offline and low-connectivity transactions, making it particularly suitable for real-world adoption within rural and underserved communities. The seminar maintained its collaborative structure, with participants actively engaging in discussions, asking technical questions, and sharing ideas on how Cashu could be incorporated into future FOSS projects developed under the BitDevs Gitega program.
● Welcome & New Year Reflections
● Recap of Previous Sessions
● Technical Session: Introduction to the Cashu Protocol
● Discussion on Local Use Cases (Offline Payments & Community Tools)
● Q&A and Open Technical Exchange
● Wrap-Up & Next Steps
Niyondiko Joffre
Nsabiyumva Nice Stella
Ndayisenga Dahl
Ndikumana Idris
Hagerimana Jean de Dieu
Egide MANIRAKIZA
Masango Alain Blaise
Mugisha Klein De Guy
Mandela Kasumba Fanuel
Belyï Nobel KUBWAYO
Chelsea Dushime
Barakana Guy-Eudes
Bu Tech
Digne Marie Grace Irakoze
Elvis Irambona
Ezako Juste Ariel
Habyarimana Andy Miguel
Abdul-Aziz Usman
Advaxe NDAYISENGA
Rukundo Geulchome
★ The seminar strengthened community cohesion through collective New Year engagement.
★ Developers were introduced to the Cashu protocol as a new technical frontier.
★ Participants understood the value of privacy-preserving digital cash for community-level adoption.
★ Strong interest emerged around offline and low-connectivity payment solutions.
★ The local Cashu mint represents a strategic opportunity for experimentation and innovation.
★ Engagement, curiosity, and technical maturity among participants continue to grow.
❖ Explore practical experimentation with the local Cashu mint
❖ Encourage developers to propose project ideas integrating Cashu
❖ Continue strengthening technical depth through future Socratic topics
❖ Document early community use cases for offline and resilient payments
❖ Progressively prepare teams toward more advanced FOSS contributions