We are thrilled to spotlight our 2018 gala honorees, three long-time Village volunteers: Phyllis Lerner, Martin Phillipps, and Mikey Walker!
Phyllis, Marty, and Mikey will receive this year's Anne Heyman Spirit Award, which honors those who demonstrate the best of what makes ASYV a family: passion, dedication, and love for the Village's kids.
Read MoreThis past week, the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village commemorated the 24thanniversary of the Genocide against the Tutsi. This profound event, known asKwibuka, or “remember,” serves as a call to memorialize those who were lost in the genocide, to heal those who survived, and to understand the past as Rwanda moves forward.
Read MoreThis month, the ASYV Alumni Association elected a new leadership committee!
The Association assists the Village by connecting us to our alumni so that we can better measure our impact. Moving forward, the Association hopes to fundraise and continue their own Tikkun Olam projects in and outside the Village to give back to ASYV and the greater Rwandan community.
Read MoreThe Class of 2021 has chosen its name: Umucyo!
In addition to each grade choosing a name for itself, the newly formed Enrichment Year families choose the family name that will be theirs forever. Each family must identify a late hero that will be their namesake and our students are empowered to carefully research their selection.
The EY grade and families' names were announced in a special Naming Ceremony, during a Friday evening Village Time. It was a wonderful celebration of the students' success to come.
Read MoreThursday, March 15th was Patients’ Day in Rwanda. All over the country hospitals and social services spent the day organizing events to lift up and deliver hope to people in need of healing.
Agahozo-Shalom’s Healthy Living Group spent the week leading up to the event gathering donations from among the Village community to be delivered to the local Rwamagana Hospital.
On the day of the event, the Healthy Living group piled into a bus with bags of clothes, laundry detergent, and over 100,000 Rwandan Francs raised from the ASYV community.
When asked what it meant to be at Patients’ Day, student Mukeshimana Ange answered, "It's a pleasure to be here and to help the people who are sick. I'm giving something that they need, soap and clothing. I'm here to see how people react. To help them not be worried, to encourage them." Ange later performed in a sketch along with other Healthy Living Group members. "The sketch is to encourage," she said.
Read MoreAs Enrichment Year students, Deborah and Amiga may have only just arrived in the Village, but this hasn't stopped them from jumping into Village life head first. By supporting ASYV's female empowerment initiatives and participating in Tikkun Olam, they are embracing their new family.
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Heroes' Day arrived with a bright blue morning, the fresh air greeting the Agahozo Shalom community and our guests. Everyone began the day assembled underneath the mango tree. It was a good place to start the day as the mango tree is the site of one of the most heroic moments in ASYV history, when Village founder Anne Heyman purchased the surrounding land from 96 different land owners in order to build the village.
Read More"Each day we continue to improve, to become better - and even without her, it is thanks to her."
Read MoreNew Year's Eve at Agahozo-Shalom was as unique as it was wonderful. It was so special to celebrate the changing of the calendar with the new Enrichment Year students at the Village. Preparations for the event began almost as soon as the students arrived.
Read MoreOn opening day for the Enrichment Year students, the ASYV journey begins for more than 120 students who arrive from throughout Rwanda's 30 districts. From near and far, they came to a bus stop in Rwamagana, from where they were shuttled to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Some of the students traveling from the Western Provinces took motorbikes to Kigali and spent the night in the city before making the trip. All were met by Village mothers and ASYV staff who were eager to welcome the new students and their guardians. Each was greeted with warm hugs, and arms grasping forearms. One by one the students piled into the Village buses to be transported down through a valley of rice fields and farms and up onto the ridge where ASYV is located. The buses pulled into the gates of ASYV, past the colorful walls painted with the words “If you see far, you will go far,” and stopped at the dining hall. The students and guardians unloaded from their shuttles and began signing in with staff at tables on the balcony of the dining hall.
Read MoreWhile October 19th may have been a very normal day for most people in Rwanda, it was anything but at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Cloudy skies loomed overhead holding back rain, mushanana-clad educators ran around campus and green capped and gowned students eagerly took pictures with their Village families.
Read MoreNicholas Navarro joined the University of Pennsylvania Hillel's service learning trip to ASYV this past May for an unforgettable week exploring the Village and Rwanda.
Nicholas is the highest fundraiser of any service trip participant in 2017 to date. We caught up with Nicholas to hear more about his experience visiting the Village and his tips on how to be a successful peer-to-peer fundraiser.
Read MoreCongratulations to our newly elected 2018 Student Government ministers!
Read MoreWe can't believe that second term is already coming to a close! Check out the July 2017 newsletter for messages from Student Government and leadership about how to stay healthy over break, using free time to give back and what to expect in the third term!
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