Dear Friends,

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. We held “myth minute” discussions combating gender stereotypes. We shared meals celebrating women in history. We invited women professionals working in STEM fields, including ASYV alumni, to talk with our girls about their career paths. Village-wide, I heard more open and honest discussions about these topics than I ever have before. I heard more girls advocating for equal treatment and more boys saying, “I understand, let’s talk about it.” 

Fostering a culture of gender equity cannot just be the work of a few, but requires all of us, boys, girls, students, and staff. 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.

Warmly,

Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura

Executive Director, Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village 

“She Always Rises Up”

Verses of Equality by Our Kids

To many girls in Rwanda and around the world, gender equity sounds like an abstract concept instead of a way to overcome the personal struggles that can define their futures—like trying to escape gender-based violence or leaving school without graduating while their brothers remain enrolled. To many girls, these struggles instead feel isolated, like just the way things are. Our student gender equity club and staff members work to help all our kids see these vulnerabilities as something else: the product of a larger system that can change through collective action.

On March 10, we held a workshop for girls interested in writing prose and/or poetry exploring their own lived experiences with gender-based issues and their feelings on working together to overcome them. Three second-year students, Kayatesi Ruth, Esther Mukakamanzi, and Teta Butati Deborah, shared the poems they wrote on Bwira News, our student blog. Excerpts from each are featured below.

"Only Weak to Be Strong," by Kayatesi Ruth

She sleeps in the valley

Only to wake up on the top of the mountain

She walks slowly to follow her dreams 

Wherever it might take her

She always rises up

Even if it’s painful.

"You Will Go Far," by Esther Mukakamanzi

Girl, know that nothing 

Is too good for you

Because you deserve the best

Life has to offer

And you got all it takes 

To reach for it all.

"Hello Woman," by Teta Butati Deborah

Hello woman, 

We need you and her

We need you to support her

We need you to show her the right path

We need you to be the compass for her but not forgetting also him

Then, I will see you!

He for She

Students Prince and King Discuss Gender Equity

It’s not just ASYV girls who are working hard to deepen the culture of gender equity in the Village. Many boys stand with them, serving as student family gender ambassadors or members of the HeForShe club. During Women’s History Month, boys helped plan and lead activities. They talked with their brothers about the importance of gender equity, and helped navigate workshop discussions on sensitive topics like toxic masculinity and gender-based violence. We asked two students, Prince Mutesa and Muhire King Lore, about their work. 

How do you support gender equity in the Village?

Prince: My fellow ambassadors of gender and I work to promote gender equity in the Village in various ways, like through sports, educational workshops, entertainment, and so many other activities.

King: I am a participant in the HeForShe club. It is a club that deals with gender equity here in the Village.

Why is doing this work important?

King: My mother raised me alone after my father ran away because he had heard that my mother was pregnant. My mother had to sacrifice her life and her interests just to raise me as the King you are seeing now. I joined the gender equity club because I truly believe women are very powerful in terms of their work, their actions, their decisions. I want to help, but I also want to learn from them and work with them.

Prince: Shifting gender stereotypes helps people be free to do what they truly like to do. That’s why my favorite gender equity activities I helped to plan this month were classes teaching boys to cook and classes teaching girls to be referees.  

A Big Sister Steps Up

Launching the ASYV Women’s Network

You can learn more about the launch of the Women's Network in the above video, created by Enock Mutabazi, ASYV Class of 2022 and current Media Intern.

“I want to help girls learn that beyond their vulnerability and the names that society calls them, there is a beautiful and powerful person,” said Asiimwe Hirwa Deborah Meillah, ASYV Class of 2022, during her final months as a student in the Village. One year later, she’s working towards that dream as the Village’s first-ever Gender Equity Focal Point. In addition to spearheading our March gender equity activities, Deborah helped launch our new ASYV Women's Network. 

The network serves as a safe space where women staff members can connect, share, and build a sense of solidarity that will empower not only them but also the students who see them as role models. “The launch was a powerful event,” says Deborah. “We shared. We laughed. We cried. Above that, we learned how to stand together and keep moving together beyond all odds—and how to work together to make the Village and the world a better place.” 

Join Us for Our Upcoming Events

Anything Is Possible Giving Circle Tutorial

April 11, 6  –  7pm ET

Join us for a Zoom tutorial hosted by Lauren Gross, a former ASYV Fellow and current member of the ASYV Development and Communication committees. During the session, you will learn more about Anything is Possible Giving Circles and how you can start one with your friends and community members. Each Circle will help secure the Village's future.

Register below to attend or to learn more about Giving Circles even if you can't make it on the 11th. Learn more about Anything Is Possible here.

Anything Is Possible Cocktails

May 18, 6:30  –  8:30pm ET

Join the Young Leadership Committee and our Executive Director JC Nkulikiyimfura for a night of drinks, appetizers, and fun—and learn how, together with your community, you can help make anything possible for generations of Rwandan youth.