The start of the new year, with our Enrichment Year (first-year) students beginning their transformative four-year journey, is always one of the most meaningful times in the Village.
We sat down with Frank Gentil, a refugee student from the DRC, to hear about his first month at ASYV. We also talked with the three founders of ASYV’s new robotics club.
Read MoreAt ASYV, we work to help our kids discover their passions and talents, then develop the skills they need to turn those interests into thriving careers. This includes pairing students with internship and continued learning opportunities in fields they love. We sat down with four students to discuss their summer activities.
In addition, we discuss the impact of three years of the Educational Resilience Program, our national teacher training initiative.
Read MoreRead our annual report covering the 2023–2024 school year, Healing the Heart, Repairing the World. In its pages, you'll find the voices of many of our family members, including students, alumni, and staff. Student Teta Deborah Butati tells us, “When you want to change the world, you first change the community you’re in.”
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Read MoreOn May 24, the 126 members of our Inganji (meaning “victory” and “celebration” in Kinyarwanda) Grade walked to receive their diplomas. They also embraced the futures full of possibility they worked to build in the Village. Watch highlights from their graduation ceremony. In addition, learn how one new graduate found inspiration to start her own business.
Read MoreThis April marks the start of the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Throughout all 100 days of commemoration, we honor the memory of the more than one million Rwandans whose lives were brutally extinguished, and we recommit to always uniting against hate. In this post, members of our Village community reflect on Kwibuka 30.
Read More2024 has been packed with new programs and new experiences. Our new vocational training program is providing our kids with crucial skills to launch their careers. We organized a Grand Study Tour, so that our fourth-year students could see Rwanda and better visualize all the possibilities their futures might hold.
In addition, the new ASYV Early Childhood Development Center opened and is now supporting our staff and their children. One of our very own ASYV alumni helped lead the center's development and launch.
Read MoreThis school year, fourth-year student Amata Belyse founded the ASYV Sign Language Club. She wanted to give her brothers and sisters the tools to connect with people in their communities who have hearing or speaking impairments.
In addition, third-year student Leila Ihezagirwe discusses why she designed and built a lamp that is accessible to people with disabilities.
Read MoreI believe the most authentic way to honor and cherish Anne's memory is to keep transforming tragedy into a powerful force for positivity and lasting impact. Anne was a visionary leader who possessed an unwavering compassion and an unyielding commitment to helping others — with her greatest efforts placed into providing a nurturing and supportive haven for orphaned and vulnerable youth in Rwanda.
Read MoreIn late September, we were thrilled to welcome the students of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) back for the 2023–2024 school year. These students included our 130 first-year kids. There are few moments as special as greeting our newest family members, knowing all the opportunity that lies ahead of them.
Meanwhile, our older students began the year with a renewed commitment to Tikkun Olam—repairing the world—and to expressing themselves through passions like painting.
Read MoreThank you for your support of Village Time! Nearly 250 members of our Village family from the United States, Rwanda, and around the world joined us to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) and honor all 1,800 of our kids and alumni.
Thanks to our community's generosity, Village Time raised over $700,000 to support our kids! This total includes nearly $170,000 raised last night during a special appeal.
Read MoreThe Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village was founded on an Israeli model, one in which every child deserves a loving family, a safe home, and the opportunity to live their dreams.
We are horrified by the acts of violence committed against the people of Israel and heartbroken for the Israeli and Palestinian families being torn apart by this crisis. May we recommit ourselves to tikkun olam—our responsibility to repair the world—in this time of mourning.
Read MoreThis month, at the outset of the new school year marking our 15th anniversary, we asked graduates from our first class, the class of 2012, and our most recent one, the class of 2023, to tell us about their ASYV journey.
We also discuss our Educational Resilience Program and what 15 years of experience has made possible.
Read MoreOn June 30, the 123 members of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village’s (ASYV’s) Ishyaka Grade walked to receive their diplomas and enter the futures they worked for, and dreamed of, throughout the five years they lived inside our gates. Ishyaka means determination and enthusiasm, and during the ceremony, the graduates sang, danced, spoke, acted, received awards, and showcased the incredible determination and enthusiasm that is their grade’s name.
Read MoreToday, T4 Education announced that the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village’s (ASYV’s) own Jean Claude Nkulikiyimfura is a finalist for the Africa Education Medal. The award honors individuals who have displayed exceptional impact and leadership in the field of education in Africa.
Please join us in congratulating JC for this incredible accomplishment!
Read MoreIn early April, our kids returned to their home communities for the term break and Kwibuka, the annual commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Just before their departure, we hosted an event called Walk with Me, exploring the healing power of the arts and artistic community. During the event, created by Rwandan artist Jemima Kakizi, students made their own art and discussed the feelings brought up by that act of creation.
Read MoreEvery March, the students and staff of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village come together to mark Women’s History Month. This year, for the first time, our activities exploring gender equity and all the ways women contribute to ASYV, Rwanda, and the world lasted all month. Fostering a culture of gender equity cannot just be the work of a few, but requires all of us. Below are just a few highlights from a month filled with thought-provoking activities and conversations that will continue to grow and deepen all year.
Read MoreWhen our first-year students arrive at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, they meet their ASYV mama and the new brothers or sisters they will live with for the next four years—and remain bonded to for a lifetime. Throughout their first term, the kids in each new student family conduct research into heroes of history. They then choose one hero as their family namesake. In honor of Rwanda’s National Heroes Day, February 1, we asked a few of our newest kids what their family’s hero means to them.
Read MoreToday, January 31, 2023, marks the ninth anniversary of the passing of our founder, Anne Heyman. Anne built the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) on strong foundations, the Jewish principles of tikkun olam—repairing the world—and tikkun halev—healing the heart. Anne envisioned that the impact of the Village, and those foundations, wouldn’t stop at our gates. Our work would ripple out to touch, heal, and transform people around the world.
Read MoreOctober 2022 Newsletter
From the moment a child arrives at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), I want them to know that they count. I am proud to report that our new strategic plan, Fostering Healing, Self-Sufficiency, and Sustainability, will guide the Village in all we do for the next three years, moving us closer to this goal.
Read MoreOn Friday, September 30, our new class of 128 first-year, or Enrichment Year, students, arrived at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) for the first time. They met their new student families and ASYV Mamas and settled into their family homes, before enjoying an afternoon welcome celebration. The following morning, EY student Muneza Didier sat down with us to talk about his initial impressions of ASYV.
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