Posts from March, 2009
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Reflections on living Jewish in Rwanda
By Tanya Fredman
“The art of keeping the seventh day is the art of painting on the canvas of time the mysterious grandeur of the climax of creation: as He sanctified the seventh day, so shall we.”
-A.J. HeschelEvery Shabbat in Rwanda, I take a walk. As I follow the red dirt path away from the village and past fields of banana trees, all the worries of the week melt away. Colorful birds dart between the flowers, showing off their bright feathers. A tall blue heron steps out from behind a bush, then spread its wings and swoops into the sky. Clouds above drift quickly, playfully, choreographing a masterpiece for those who will stop to look up. Often I walk together with one of the kids, and when I point out to them the motion in the dancing skies, I find my amazement is contagious.
On my weekly walk I stop at the highest point in Agahozo Shalom, the school, and watch the village from a distance. Rows of orange, yellow, and green houses glisten in the sun and beam down at Lake Mugesera, a shimmering mirror in the distance. It is here that I am able to both physically and mentally extricate myself from the hustle and bustle of village life. From teaching my students to mix colors, from planning for the upcoming culture show, from questioning my impact as a foreigner in a developing country, from worrying about a particular kid. The village seems small out here under the big blue sky, and though I know the importance of our work in the village far outweighs its size, I am grateful for the perspective this hilltop brings.
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Agahozo-Shalom: Restoring health in Rwanda’s Youth
By Eugenie Mukanoheli
Director of the Health and Wellness CenterThe children who have been welcomed at the ASYV were youngsters when their parents died; and most of them experienced all kinds of hardships and abuse while growing up. Some of them had to live in more than one family (moving between their relatives’ families who were not able to take care of them), others in child-headed households, or in houses where groups of children had been gathered without any adult to take care of or guide them.
Here’s the story that one of them shared with me:
“Before I came to ASYV, I was living with a large group of other children in a house that had been put up for orphans by local authorities in our area. During the school time, I went to a boarding school. Before my older sister and I went to live in that house, we were living with neighbors who had hidden and protected us during the genocide, but who later on started abusing and mistreating us. In the children’s house, there was no adult to take care of us; the only person I could get support from was my sister. I sometimes thought it was better to die, especially when I remembered I had no parents, or when I needed something but couldn’t get it.”
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Village News – The Last Saturday of the First month
By jean-Pierre Nkuranga
Director of Informal EducationJanuary 31st 2009, the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village has been buoyant with youthful voices for 45 days now, and the kids take part in their first day of collective community service (UMUGANDA) in their new hometown of Rubona.
The ASYV schedule on this Saturday is busy! The village will carefully undertake this first act of “Tikkun Olam” (mending the world) beyond its boundaries, but it will also play some friendly games of volleyball and football (soccer) with the Rubona teams, in addition to receiving some important guests, including the Honorable State Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Mr. Mutsindashyaka.
From 7:00 am the kids are ready for the work outside of the village. The plan is for the girls to work alongside the local ladies, planting a beautiful garden at the town’s administrative office. The boys will work in the Eucalyptus forest near the village and clear it up of all hazards. At 7:30AM, the girls leave the village singing “Tuzarwubaka abana b’abanyarwanda turugire nka paradizo ku isi yose” (we will built this country, we the youth of Rwanda, and make it a paradise on Earth). The boys follow at 8:00AM, and the villagers are amazed to see how hard working and motivated the ASYV kids already are. Indeed, they work hard and with great enthusiasm, singing all along. I hear one villager say “these kids from the Muzungu are very serious; we thought that they were spoiled but they are hard workers”. At this point, many locals who had no plans to join Umuganda are changing their minds; they all seem to want a portion of the kids’ passion and resolve!
[To read more of this article, download the PDF]