Burundi’s flamboyant President Nkurunziza regularly takes to the soccer field in order to heal his war-torn country. His appearances draw big crowds and he uses the opportunity to push his message of peace and reconciliation.

Nkurunziza waged a guerrilla war against Burundi’s Tutsi soldiers until four years ago when he was elected President.

This week on Dateline, Ginny Stein travels to Burundi to meet him and finds that - apart from football - the President is also a fitness fanatic who enjoys cycling – albeit followed by a convoy of vehicles carrying his security guards.

He also rolls up his sleeves and joins as many as five million Burundians in a weekly working bee to lay bricks and mortar to replace infrastructure ruined during the war.

About International Dateline
SBS Dateline, which began in 1984, is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program. It has a well-earned reputation for authoritative and incisive reporting. Dateline has taken the traditional way of producing TV current affairs and turned it on its head. Reporters who used to travel with a cameraperson and sound recordist now travel alone and have the responsibility of both filming and reporting their stories. The reporters became video-journalists, gaining access to people and places that the conventional camera crews cannot.