2024 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.

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This 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.

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I 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.

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In 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.

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Thank 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.

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The 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.

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This 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.

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On 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. 

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Today, 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!

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In 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.

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Every 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.

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When 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.

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Today, 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.

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October 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.

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On 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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On the morning of July 8, the 120 graduating members of our Umucyo (meaning light in Kinyarwanda) grade donned their green caps and gowns and prepared to celebrate their time at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). After two years without a full graduation ceremony, a crowd of guardians, honored guests, and one cow—generously gifted to the Village by Umucyo grade—joined us on the Village football field to recognize the remarkable talent, resilience, and accomplishments of ASYV's 10th graduating class.

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In early June, Enrichment Year (first-year) student Mukakamanzi Esther became the first student from the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) to qualify as a finalist in the Rise program, a prestigious international scholarship competition offering its Global Winners up to $500,000 in lifetime benefits. In her application, Esther discussed her desire to empower girls across Rwanda to envision themselves as people who can shape the nation.

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At the heart of each Village family is its ASYV Mama. Mama Clarisse’s biological daughter, Bimenyimana Uwicyeza Eline, was part of the ASYV Class of 2019—and is now enrolled at University of Rwanda. Mama Clarisse’s goddaughter Amata Belyse, who came to live with her full time in 2019, is a current second-year, or S4, student at ASYV. We asked Amata to sit down with Mama Clarisse.

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This March, a delegation of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) students traveled to the neighboring community of Bigaga to provide residents without access to electricity with solar-powered lamps and the training they needed to use them. This Tikkun Olam community service project had been years in the making.

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March 2022 Newsletter

Triumph fills the air at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) as our students return to inter-school sports competitions after a long pandemic-induced hiatus, and we get back into the rhythm of sharing the Village’s magic with visitors from all over the world. The magic itself seems reinvigorated, as I see it shining in our students’ faces and feel it in my heart.

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