This month, we gave asyv.org a new look to help visitors like you learn more about the Village from its very heart – the kids!

Meet Noella and Bosco, your guides to life in the Village. Click around on the site to let them take you on a journey through the rolling hills of Rwanda into the gates of our beautiful Village!

Meet Noella

Noella Uwase is a second-year student in the Senior 4 grade at ASYV.

Before she was recruited to study in the Village, Noella was living in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, with her aunt, three brothers, and sister. Noella’s mother passed away when she was 7 years old; she became an orphan when her father died when she was only 10.

Noella was always a hard worker. “When I was outside the Village, I studied very hard because I didn’t have enough money to pay for school,” she says. “I learned how to translate sign language for my fellow students because some of them were deaf.” Living and learning in the Village has helped Noella dream big. “Now that I am at ASYV, I have the confidence to do everything. When I graduate from ASYV , I want to be a professional sign language translator. And, I want to be a company manager.” Fueled by her dreams, Noella’s academic focus (or “combination”) is MEG (Math, Economics, Geography).

Not one to sit still, Noella is involved in many activities in the Village, including the Debate Team, the Media Club, and Isano Isangiwe, the Acting Club. “When I am acting, I have confidence in what I am doing and I know how to manage my stage presence. I like to act as a mom. Moms are strong women.” In her free time, Noella loves to play basketball and socialize with friends.

With all the activities and schoolwork she juggles, it’s no surprise that her student family, the Mahatma Gandhi Family, has identified Noella to take on the responsibility of time management for their household. She is tasked with making sure each of her sisters gets to where they need to be at the right time. She also serves as a class monitor, selected for her leadership and ability to advocate for the needs of her classmates.

Noella is proof that the love of a family and community really can transform a young person. “My (family) mom had good advice,” says Noella. “Last year, I remember, I came here and I was shy, but my mom advised me to be honest to everyone because the Village is our home.” Noella is now looking toward the future and how she can help others the way the Village has helped her.  “I am working on building an electronic hearing aid,” she says. “I care for deaf people. I translate for them using sign language. I want to help deaf people who are poor and give them the hearing aid when it is finished.”

Bosco Martin Nshimiyumukiza

Bosco Martin is a third-year student in the Senior 5 grade at ASYV.

Bosco’s family fled to Uganda during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Upon their return to Rwanda, his mother became handicapped and his father was shot and killed. “My family did not have enough money to buy school materials and food,” he explains. Bosco had little hope of getting an education until he was recruited to come to the Village.

Bosco had always excelled in school and was thrilled to be admitted to live and study at ASYV. “I decided I wanted to be a leader who impacted the community and could handle my family’s economic situation. I learned that my potential is limitless if I start small and rely on my ambitions.”

And a leader he has become. Bosco serves as the Foreign Affairs Minister in the ASYV Student Government. He is active in Youth Impact Mission for Africa, a service organization he founded; Model UN; and the Critical Thinking for Peace club. Bosco is also a community service coordinator, and in 2017 he was elected Mr. Core Values for his student family, the King Mutara Rudahigwa III Family.

Bosco credits his Village family for helping him grow and develop into a leader while at ASYV. He recalls his family’s Mama once said, “I see you, in the years to come, that you have a bright future [and will be] a man of success.” In 2016, when Bosco was in his Enrichment Year, he developed a relationship with ASYV Village Director Vincent Kalimba. “Vincent really knows me,” says Bosco. “My first year at ASYV was like a miracle for me. I knew English was my weakness and tried my best speaking in English but one time a kid laughed at me and I was disappointed. But Vincent, he saw me crying, and he came to me. He moved me to become the person I want to be in the future.”

For his future, Bosco has his eye on becoming a leader. “I want to go to college to study international relations because I want to represent my country and learn from diversity. I want to travel and then come back to Rwanda to make a difference.”