2009
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Free Time at ASYV
From Tina Wyatt, Project Coordinator
Saturday at the village is farm and free time day. The day starts out with the kids working in the farm. The rest of the day is free time. They hang out, study, play sports, visit the learning, arts, and music center.
Anne (Founder) and I were hanging out at our house when we heard guitar playing. Shortly after, we heard “let It Be” along with the guitar playing. We were being serenaded. I looked out our window and there were two boys sitting outside, teaching each other how to play the guitar and singing. It was a wonderful sound. They played for about two hours. This is not unusual in the village. Singing is a big part of life in the village.
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House Naming – Socrates
By Anne Heyman, Founder
On Thursday afternoon the Village hung the brand new signs with the newly chosen names of the houses I went to Socrates House where I was asked to hang up the sign on the front door. Hammering nails into cement is not an easy task, but fortunately they (the kids and staff) just wanted to make sure I had done SOMETHING so they urged me to get down after a few hammer hits – they were clearly very concerned I would hurt myself. The men took over, (although it was a girls house); the Deputy Dir. Of Informal education and the Grade coordinator as well as a counselor had come to help so they actually hung the sign after my few little hammer taps. The girls then sang their house song, with Liliane belting out the main part and the others signing along beautifully. Their talent is amazing….the words….well – you will see for yourselves below. This one was written and sung in English, but there are so many songs written in the village in both English and Kinyarwanda which just tug at every heart string – .and they are sung so beautifully. What is really amazing is that you can go into any house and ask them to sing a song and not only will it be written by one of the kids in the house, but all the brothers (or sisters) in the house will know all the words, and often in both languages. I wish I could convey to all what has happened in this village, what miracles take place on a daily basis, and I do not use that word lightly. I have learned that you have to be here to appreciate the magic of the place, but I hope these words will help convey some of the magic of our children.
SOCRATES FAMILY SONG
Chorus: Agahozo shalom (3 times), You are wonderful forever and you are our special home.
1. In Agahozo we have found a good family and our tears have been dried, for sure in Agahozo our dreams will be realized.
2. Our goal is to see far, and for sure we will reach far. To heal the world to heal ourselves with peace and love.
3. Let’s stand up as kids of Agahozo work together and love each other let’s show the world by example all the possibilities when we come together.
Socrates Family
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Success at ASYV
From Anne Heyman, Founder
There are many lessons I learned this week at Agahozo-Shalom, but perhaps one of the most important is how critical it is to take the time to appreciate what we – the Agahozo-Shalom Family, have accomplished. While this family includes many supporters of all types from around the world, I want to take a moment to focus on the staff who spend their lives creating the reality on the ground in Rwanda. Last Tuesday in a village wide staff meeting (the only ones missing were the teachers who were administering the end of year examinations) we did an exercise where we listed all the successes achieved in the short time that Agahozo-Shalom has been in operation. I thought I would share some of those with you. Please keep in mind the extraordinary challenges these people faced this year: moving to live in a village (the vast majority live at Agahozo-Shalom) that operates on a different plane than the world that they are used to; being exposed to foreigners, for many for the first time, living “communally” – the communal dining was difficult for many, having to do a job that you didn’t really understand but had to figure out along the way, with no reference points and which in many ways seem to go against what you had learned previously. I could go on and on. Please read the list below and as you do so think about what these things mean. For example the first one, created a system for the village/procedures that work – I am not sure you can even imagine what it means to come to a place that is barely functioning – no running water, no operating kitchen – nor a completed dining room for that matter – and welcome 125 petrified children to their new homes 10 days later. And yet today the children wake up, go to the dining hall for breakfast, go to school where they are making wonderful progress in learning, they are served a delicious lunch, an enrichment program is in full force after school, they get another nutritious and delicious meal (3 meals a day is something new for most of those who live at Agahozo-Shalom), they have family time every day, and an incredible staff who nurture and watch over them with a passion that I can’t even explain. Please think about each of the successes listed below, and enjoy:
SUCCESSES
ASYV Success
• Created a system for village/ procedures make it work
• Village is real/tangible
• Kids are speaking English
• Security/safety/wellness (fantastic!)
• Kids have become comfortable here
• Kids and staff have understanding and are doing
• Time management with kids being achieved
• Eating together in dining hall
• Kids: this is home & family (not boarding school)
• No labels/ all equal/ respect
• Girls are motivated in sports/ confident
• ASYV is better than other families (THE BEST!!!)
• Kids are healthy & we have a doctor to help them
• What was a job has turned into a mission!
• Kids are open to sharing
• Relationships have improved greatly (internal/external)
• Kids help out when they go home
• Personal growth
• Village is always open
• Teenagers that are well behaved
• ASYV culture
• Professionalism
• Live with all cultures
• Growth opportunity
• Kids motivated- enrichment
• Internet
• village looks beautiful
• Learning complimentary life skills
• Life in village is dynamic- see good in future
• Commitment of all
• 3 meals/day for all- healthy/ no hunger SUCCESS
• Togetherness & respect
• Farming at ASYV
• Water! Kitchen is working
• Implemented philosophy & unity
• Staff are treating equally
• Kids are discovering hidden talents
• Leadership & responsibility
• Adapting & changing
• Ability to manage kids from different backgrounds
• Kids feel like part of a family
• Finished catch up program with no problemsWe took a moment to end our session by indulging in some of the things we are excited about for next year: eating fruit from our farm, the amphitheatre, new kids/new staff, the knowledge that with experience we will all do better, we will communicate better, tikkun olam, our community service program, will go into full effect. Looking at where they started this year and where they wound up all are excited and energized by the possibilities for the new year. (In case the reader isn’t aware school in Rwanda finishes for the year at the end of October and resumes in January. While kids will still be in the village during this time, many will use the time to visit their friends and family members and even while in the village life will have a more relaxed rhythm as the kids are on “vacation”.
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Liquidnet Family at ASYV
Members of the Liquidnet Family are at the village to facilitate ASYV’s first Leadership Training Seminar. It was a 3-day seminar where the ASYV Leadership discuss successes and looking toward the future and how to get there.
ASYV Leadership Team and Anne Heyman, Founder
It has been an engaging process for all. To read more about Liquidnet’s visit to the village, see their blog at http://race4rwanda.tumblr.com
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ASYV Training Seminar – Day 1
[caption id="attachment_441" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Nir Lahav, Director"]
Syliva and Jean-Pierre
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The ASYV Leadership Training Seminar got off to a good start. Nir, Village Director, discussed successes in the village. Sylvia and Jean-Pierre, Directos, look ahead to the future.
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ASYV Leadership Training Seminar
The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is having their first Leadership Training Seminar this week. The conference is facilitated by members of the Liquidnet Family who arrived at the village on Tuesday.
The conference began by acknowledging the village successes over the last year. Here is list of accomplishments put together by the Directors:
- 3 on time meals everyday for all
- we’ve seen the kids change—they smile now; they are amazing, responsible people
- the farm—we’ve tasted its fruit
- commitment and motivation of the staff are so strong
the kids now really know the meaning of the slogan “See Far Go Far”
- village is operational
- we know what it takes to achieve success
- village has had a great impact on both kids and workers
- created a learning environment
- the government and the entire country are looking up to us
- hope has been restored -
Agahozo-Shalom Update – September 2009
Dear Friends and Supporters of Agahozo-Shalom,
It gives me great pleasure to share with you this update from Agahozo-Shalom, where life has continued with such enthusiasm and passion that sometimes it takes my breath away. Since April when you last heard from us we have continued to make great strides, both in the “physical plant” of Agahozo-Shalom (first phase of construction completed, green grass and young trees dotting the landscape, eating our own vegetables from our farm) and in program implementation (trainings for staff, refinements in process and procedures, introduction of new enrichment activities).
Our children have settled into a “rhythm of life” that would be familiar to many of us, but for many of them is really beyond their wildest dreams. Just last week they took a field trip in to the capital city of Kigali, a modern western city which is quite an eye-opener compared to the pastoral green hills that make up most of rural Rwanda. The children visited a factory, a radio station and the Kigali International airport. Back at school they are in the process of choosing the courses they will study for their last three years of high school and for which they will have to take their matriculation exams. And as they begin to plan their next year at Agahozo-Shalom, so too have we begun to identify/recruit and to plan for the next class of 125 who will be joining us in December, which is really just around the corner.
The past six months has not been without its challenges. Although we were able to raise the funds to complete the payment for our construction (which includes future infrastructure needs, the farm, sports facilities as well as the community center, high school, and homes which can accommodate 500 children as well as visitor accommodations) the economic environment has made it difficult for us to raise the money needed for basic operating costs, and has made us keep purchases for the incoming class down to a bare minimum. Clean water continues to be a challenge, as does the very high cost of electricity and we are exploring solutions for both. The day to day trials, however, pale when compared to the accomplishments. In the green hills of Rwamagana there sits a real, live, operating youth village. It has a school which children cannot wait to get to in the morning. They eat 3 delicious nutritious meals a day with vegetables they have grown in their own farm. They sing, dance and play sports in the afternoons, go to the learning center and library, use computers, do their homework and dream about what they are going to be when they “grow up”. And they don’t stop thinking – and telling us – about how they are going to change the world.
The ripple effects of Agahozo-Shalom are already being felt in many ways and many places both in and outside of Rwanda. Although we are barely up and running ourselves, people from all over the world are visiting and beginning to talk to us about ways in which they can implement our or a similar model elsewhere. Please don’t underestimate the impact of your decision to join us in this remarkable journey. And come and visit! There is no better way to understand what is happening at Agahozo-Shalom than to spend a few days at the village, eating with the kids, sharing in activities. We are waiting for you with open arms.
Wishing you all the very best,
Anne Heyman,
Founder, Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village[To read more of this article, download the PDF.]
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Founder Anne Heyman at Agahozo-Shalom for Inauguration
Hello again from the beautiful hills of Rwamagana, home of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. It is 7:15 in the morning and as I sit outside drinking my coffee (3rd cup of the day already) I am watching the children as they walk up to start their day at the Liquidnet Family High School. Today is the first day of exams – the end of second semester. It is amazing that the children are finished with half of their first year at Agahozo-Shalom.
Last night I visited with one of the families during “Family Time”. Family time is the hour between 9 and 10 at night when all the children get together with their counselor and house mother and either just discuss the day’s events, topics of interest or on occasion have someone come in and talk to them about an important issue. I thought perhaps they would not want me to come, or spend that much time but they were, as always, very pleased to see me and very welcoming. In fact one of the young men from the house came to “pick me up” at my house, just to make sure I knew where I was going! For the first night before examinations the house was remarkably calm; it was apparent to me that for most of the children, as ambitious as they are, had the examinations in the right perspective. Our topics of conversation as always were all over the place – questions about where I come from, how I live. They all wanted to come and visit me in New York until I told them I live on the 16th floor….most didn’t think they could even visit, let alone sleep, in a building that high above the ground.[To read more of this post, Founder in Rwanda June 2009 download the PDF]
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JDC attends Agahozo-Shalom Inauguration
By William Recant, Assistant Exec. Vice President, JDC
June 23, 2009
Agahozo-Shalom InaugurationThe voices of singing children spread through the community center with power and pride as the inaugural ceremonies for the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) commenced last Tuesday, June 23. After weeks of preparation by the students and staff of the village, some 500 guests and honorees attended the highly anticipated formal ceremonies. In attendance were some of Rwanda’s principal dignitaries including several Ministers, the United States Ambassador, the Israel Ambassador, the Governor of the Eastern Province, and international visitors from Europe, Israel and North America.
As the senior project manager for Agahozo-Shalom from JDC, I had the privilege of being at this event with several of my colleagues who have been working for ASYV for the past two years. Nora Barron of the JDC Board of Directors returned to see the completion of the project that she had first witness fourteen months earlier when a delegation of the Board of the JDC came to see the construction site of the village. During the ceremony Nora addressed the gathering on behalf of the JDC and the Board of Directors. “From our Board members to our entire staff,” she acknowledged, “the JDC is so very proud to be part of the team which has created, constructed and will manage the village in its formative years.”
[To read more of this post, JDC in Rwanda June 2009 download the PDF]
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Liquidnet CEO attends Agahozo-Shalom Inauguration
Seth Merrin, CEO, Liquidnet Holdings, Inc., and 8 colleagues attended the inauguration of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village and dedication of the Liquidnet Family High School on June 23, 2009.
Below are Seth’s reflections of his visit.
Seth Merrin, CEO, Liquidnet Holdings, Inc.
By Seth Merrin, CEO, Liquidnet Holdings, Inc.
June 2009Last week eight folks from Liquidnet, including myself, went to Rwanda for the official opening of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a home for Rwandan orphans which the Liquidnet community has helped to build. The village actually opened in December when the first 125 orphans entered. Even though we have been involved since the inception of this project, being at the village and talking to the students, counselors and teachers had a profound effect on all of us. It put a lot of things into perspective, especially in these times. I thought I would share some thoughts with you.
With names like Innocent and Patience, every kid and counselor has a story that could best be expressed only in the goriest of horror movies.
[To read more of this post, Seth Merrin June 2009 download the PDF]