Posts from October, 2010
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News from the Farm
By UWASE Justin
We are very happy in the village because our farm has a new baby calf! The baby is small with brown skin. It is very young now, but after a few years it will be very important in our village. It will give us milk and money if we ever need to sell it. We want our farm to be organic and we feed the cow natural foods so that it is healthy. In Rwanda, according to our culture, cows are important in our life. If you want to marry, you must buy a cow to give to your girlfriend’s parents. I am not ready to get married now, so we can let the new baby grow up!
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Tikkun Olam – Social Affairs
By UWIZEYIMANA Jacqueline, Class of 2012
In Tikkun Olam there are different groups for the school, the clinic, and
social affairs. Social affairs is then divided into five groups of 16 each,
all from the *Urumuri* (seeds) grade, and there is one educator/counselor
who guides each group and reminds us to clean the tools and to work hard.This year our group worked at two sites. In January we started to rebuild a
house for a poor widow who lives with her son. She was sick and unable to
work in order to earn money to rebuild her house. She didn’t have a door or
windows so the youth of ASYV took initiative to rebuild it. We also helped
to treat her for jiggers and left her with a system for collecting and
storing water, so that now she is in a better condition.In the middle of June we began working in another place that was closer to
our village. We helped another poor family of old people who were in need of
a new kitchen. We helped them to rebuild their kitchen out of mud. We
were met with some difficulties in this project because we didn’t have
enough time to finish this project.
Students preparing the mud to rebuild a house
What we got from Tikkun Olam this year through building houses without any
help, was to be focused on our projects, to have time management, and to
feel someone else’s pain. This experience was also good because we have
learned how to handle special cases or problems of different people who
surround us, and to go the extra mile. -
News from the Liquidnet Family High School
The students enter the Liquidnet Family High School in Agahozo-Shalom having completed a middle school education (Senior level 3). We then we provide a year of “enrichment” or catch-up so they can be successful as high school freshmen (Senior 4). In Senior High school in Rwanda, the students choose studies of emphasis called their “combination”. Right now our Enrichment year students are choosing their academic combinations for their next 3 years of study. Two of our students share the combinations they chose and how these studies will bring them closer to reaching their life goals:
Choosing My Combination
By UWAMAHORO Marie LouiseI chose the combination H.E.G. of History, Economics, and Geography. I like to know history because I am interested in the past and the actions and progress of humans. Geography is a topic I find very hard, and I must study to succeed. I think it is important to know the physical and chemical features of our country and our continent and also our whole world. Economics is very interesting in my life because I need to study how I can be a future entrepreneur. Economics is my favorite subject in my combination, because it will really help me in the future. I am preparing to be a business woman. I need to work very hard and not expect other people to work for me. I have to create my own opportunities. When I have success I will be able to help other children in the world, even my kids in University. I will be able to create big projects with my knowledge of Economics.
Changing Our Country With Law or Engineering
By NGANIZI AugustinFor me, I chose P.C.B., the combination of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. I want to be a scientist in Biology because I understand very well the sciences. In my future I need to be a good man who can help men who are poor and orphans. I want to be an engineer in water and electricity. In University I want to study pure physics. In my future I also know it is important to know the history of the past and so I would also study H.E.G. as my second choice. If I study H.E.G. I can become a lawyer and make a positive change in my country.
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- UWAMAHORO Marie Louise
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- NGANIZI Augustin
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House Naming Ceremony
By TUYIZERE Elyse
In Agahozo-Shalom we had a naming ceremony for our families. We did
the research to find heros in history. We learned about many people
and made our family decisions. Before the house naming ceremony we had
families 1,2,3… until 8. But now every house has a name. For example,
Family 8 is now Abraham Lincoln Family. Abraham Lincoln is a great
American President who did not want Africans to be in slavery in
America. Our naming ceremony was very nice for all the members of
Agahozo-Shalom, especially the kids of the grade we call “Imbutu”, or
fruits. We are the younger grade. I like that our families are named
for heros because it means we must live up to their example.Family 1 is now Leopold Sedar Senghor Family
Family 2 is now Madame C.J. Walker Family
Family 3 is now Joan of Arc Family
Family 4 is now John F. Kennedy Family
Family 5 is now Leonardo da Vinchi Family
Family 6 is now David Ben-Gurion Family
Family 7 is now Patrice Lumumba Family
Family 8 is now Abraham Lincoln Family-
- TUYIZERE Elyse
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- Making House Signs
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- Creating House Signs
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A Treat To Be At Agahozo-Shalom by Anne Heyman, Founder
Anne Heyman, ASYV-Founder, is currently visiting the village. The following blog is written by Anne about a day in the village:
Once again I find myself at the Village, where the school year is winding down. The kids are beginning to study for finals which start next week and we have the bitter sweet end of the tenure of one Village Director and the start of another. There is, as always, much work to be done, but then there is the pure job of seeing, being with and interacting with the kids. The highlight of my day today was the “chess final” after dinner. For the last month there has been a chess tournament in the village. First each of the houses had an intra-house tournament, then the houses in each grade played each other, then the final was between the winner in the first grade (the newer kids) and the winner in the second grade (the older kids). I was thrilled that the winner from the first grade was a girl; totally awesome. I am so proud of her. The tournament started at 8:30 and was very well attended – I think almost all of the kids in the Village were there. It was actually quite surreal. On the stage in the dining hall there was a table set with a table cloth, a chess set, two glasses of water and two stop watches. The kids who were playing came to the table, along with their “timers”. As they stepped up to their stools they were cheered like rock stars. (the whole time they were preparing to get started a slide show of the chess games leading up to this final game was being shown to music). There was tremendous energy in the room, and as each player made a move their respective cheering section would hoot and holler. In the end the young man from the second year was triumphant. It was not really a surprise to learn that he had played his first game of chess 6 weeks before. Most of the kids at the village had not seen or played chess before, but many practiced sometimes twice a day, and my understanding is that there are some players who are very very good. These kids never fail to amaze with what they are capable of learning and doing and their motivation is something that really has to be seen to be believed.
Just one of the many reasons that it is always a treat to be at Agahozo-Shalom
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Agahozo-Shalom is Growing
Over the last 3 years, ASYV’s buildings have acted as dual purpose. For example, some of the houses have been used for staff housing and offices. This December, we will have another 125 kids into the village. This means we now will have 3 classes which total 375 kids, nearing our goal of 500. This also means we are also adding additional staff; housemothers, counselors, etc. to support our new kids. We now need those “office and staff buildings” for our kids.
A generous donor has made it possible for us to build an administration and clinic building so that we can ready the houses for our new kids. These new buildings will also ready the village for next years kids.
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Liquidnet in Rwanda
Several employees of Liquidnet Holdings Inc (www.liquidnet.com) have traveled to Rwanda to spend time at Agahozo-Shalom Youth village and to lend their professional expertise.
You can read about their experiences at http://liquidnetinrwanda.blogspot.com/
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Would you like tikkun olam with that?
By: Micaela Helman-Tincher
Giving ain’t easy. As a cash-strapped 20-something I frequently feel compelled to give to causes, but can’t bring myself to give more than the occasional small donation. And, I’m sure, many 20-somethings join me in occasionally failing to give because we think that our small donation is “too small to make a difference.”
Well, here at Agahozo-Shalom, our kids find no such obstacles. For example:
This winter our director told the kids about a country not unlike theirs that had been devastated by an earthquake. Within a few weeks and with a few starter ideas from the staff, the kids were well on their way to raising money to help the kids of Ha-i-ti (how we pronounce it here).
The kids gave up meat for two weeks, asking that the village instead donate the money to Haiti. The kids and staff donated their personal funds, and the canteen gave all pencil sales profits to the cause. In the end a village of Rwandan orphans raised $800 for Haiti. We sent the money, along with cards from the kids, with the JDC’s envoy to Haiti.
Amazed? Me too, and it continues:
To read more of this story, please continue to Micaela’s blog at: http://micaelainrwanda.blogspot.com/2010/10/would-you-like-tikkun-olam-with-that.html
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The Short Story of a Vulnerable Widow
By NSANZUMUHIRE Francois, Class of 2012
This year in our Tikkun Olam group we worked to help a vulnerable widow. She
lost her kids and a husband in the Genocide of 1994 and she had nothing in
terms of materials, not even hope for the future, and she experienced great
loneliness. We hoed her small farm, rebuilt her toilet and her kitchen
(Inside and outside) and were able to finish all the projects.She lives nearby our home (Agahozo-Shalom), she’s very close to our
farm. Personally I learned many things from this mother and she tried
to join us in our activities even though it was too sunny and rainy and difficult for her to
work. She came often to show us the right way to hoe and while she was
doing that she inspired us by telling us long stories (imigani in
Kinyarwanda) and everyone in the group enjoyed learning from her.
We ended our Tikkun Olam activities on 12 October 2010 and said goodbye to
her. It was so sad and difficult to tell her that this was the end of our
work with her. That day, she shared with us a story about her childhood. She
said that she did the same thing for others as we were doing for her,
and that now people (us) came to help her which means that we will be repaid
in the same way in the future. She encouraged us to continue to work hard
because life is not easy, and she ended her talk by sharing sugar canes with
us from her farm and giving us a blessing: *Imana Ibahe umugisha* (May God
bless you.) After receiving her blessings we invited her to our Tikkun Olam
Event in the village, which will be held 5 November 2010, and promised that
we’d visit her in the future.
