Celebrating our 10th Graduating Class
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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How ASYV Girls Are Rising Up
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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What Family Means in the Village
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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Our Kids Take on Climate Change
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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A Game-Changing Second Term
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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A Lens on Girls Taking the Lead
Pictures and videos of Mukeshimana Deborah are hard to come by at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). This is because she is generally found behind the camera. We sat down with her to talk about her time as Village Media Club president and her passion for the field.
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New Year, New Beginnings
October 2021 Newsletter
On September 24, we joyfully welcomed our 13th class of Enrichment Year students to the Village. During their two-week orientation, the new students' creativity flourished and the kids built the groundwork for bonds that will last a lifetime.
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The Ongoing Impact of Covid-19
This past week should have been a joyous one. On July 7, we had planned to hold our ninth graduation ceremony — a celebration of the Umurage Grade and all they have achieved in their four years in the Village. Unfortunately, with cases of Covid-19 rising significantly in Rwanda, the Rwandan Ministry of Education ordered schools to close on July 2 and we quickly mobilized to prepare our students to leave the Village once again.
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Announcing ASYV's national Educational Resilience Program
The Mastercard Foundation has awarded the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village a transformational grant that will allow us to impact the lives of tens of thousands of students across Rwanda. With the financial support of the Mastercard Foundation, and the partnership of the Gashora Girls Academy of Science and Technology and the Rwanda Ministry of Education, we are launching the Educational Resilience Program (ERP).
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Once Kids, Our ASYV Graduates are Back as Staff
For the staff of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, there is a particular joy in welcoming a new colleague who was once a student at ASYV. We love to see our kids grow up and return home to help us raise the next generation. Today, 17 alumni are current staff members. Meet six of these remarkable employees.
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The Village Celebrates International Women's Day
On Monday, March 8th, the Village commemorated International Women's Day with a special celebration hosted by ASYV's Student Government. Speeches were shared by ASYV's Executive Director and Mamas. Students shared their own reflections and artwork via a special pre-recorded Virtual Village Time including poetry and photography.
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Beyond the Village Gates, Family Time Continues
Family Time is when our student families come together in the evening to laugh, debate, play games, share worries, welcome visitors, dance, and just be, together. So when our students returned to their homes in March, they knew they needed to find a way to continue this important nightly ritual, even if it meant convening virtually.
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Tikkun Olam During COVID-19
"Don't thank me," our founder, Anne Heyman, always impressed upon our students. "Pay it forward." The spirit of Tikkun Olam (Hebrew for "repairing the world") is embedded deeply in the fabric of our ASYV family. So, when our alumni community learned that their fellow ASYV students and alumni are struggling with malnutrition as a result of the lockdown in Rwanda, they mobilized to help.
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Family First: Student Government Responds to ASYV Needs
Members of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village's Student Government have proven that distance can't stop them from fulfilling their important work of supporting the student body.
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ASYV Celebrates International Women’s Day All Month
Instead of celebrating International Women’s Day for just one day, the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village commemorated all month long with a series of events and our very own #EachforEqual campaign to match the International Women’s Day theme of 2020.
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Enrichment Year Families Choose their Namesake
What do Julius Nyerere, Helen Keller, and John Lennon all have in common? On the surface perhaps not much, but at ASYV, each of these individuals is the namesake of one of our Village families, a late hero identified for the legacy they left in life and the core values they embodied.
Choosing a hero to be a family’s namesake isn’t an easy process.
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ASYV is on i24 News!
Last week, ASYV's own Managing Director, Shiri Sandler sat down with i24 News for an interview about the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Shiri speaks about the Village's roots in an Israeli model, its application to Rwanda's history and context, and our impact on more than 1,500 young people since the Village opened its doors to Rwanda's orphaned and vulnerable youth in 2008.
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ASYV Commemorates the Holocaust
Every Monday and Wednesday, our students gather for a morning assembly before classes begin. On January 27th, ASYV students and educators gathered together to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day for the first time.
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Fearless Leader: The Story of Julia Gihozo
As students near the end of their time at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, they begin their next chapter strengthened by the support of our community and the lessons they learned about themselves along the way. They discover the power they have to not only change their own stories, but to write new stories that give us hope for the future and imagine a better world.
Julia’s is one of many stories of hope.
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The Stories of Alice Iradukunda and Flambeau Iriho
At ASYV, young people learn that there’s much more to their stories than the challenges that defined their earliest chapters. Through educational and extracurricular activities, students uncover unique passions, interests, and skills that open up new pathways in life.
For Alice, Flambeau, and many others, a new chapter of learning begins at ASYV, full of self-discovery and new possibilities for the future. Read more about Alice and Flambeau here.
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