2011
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Fall, a Welcomed Season of Pride at the Village
By Anne Heyman, Founder ASYV
It is October again, and that means the end of another school year at Agahozo-Shalom. As usual at this time of year the management team from New York meets with the management of the Village to review the past year, examine where we are and look at what needs to happen for us to move forward next year. We are fortunate enough to be joined once again by an amazing team of volunteers from Liquidnet Holdings, Inc. who not only help facilitate our meetings but also will also work with their counterparts in Village to strengthen the skills and practices in the various departments. Today was our first full day of working sessions in the Village, and it was a good one. But the greatest part of the day was, as always, a completely unexpected gift: Today happened to be the day that one of the tikkun olam groups were giving the keys of a house they had built to the poor widow whom they had built it for, and if we wanted to come along for the small ceremony.
We arrived at the widow’s house which, like many homes in Rwanda is down a windy dirt path which passes for a road.
The usual group of little kids arrived as if out of nowhere, gleefully laughing and pointing at the “muzungu”. I always enjoy interacting with these kids, whose joy at the littlest things is really infectious. I felt especially privileged to be here today as I had been lucky enough to be at the Village in July when this group began working on the house, and I had accompanied them on one of their tikkun olam (community service) visits then. I learned from them how to make mud bricks, and as always counted myself lucky to have shared in the experience. The widow was lying on a straw mat beside her current home, if you can call it that, and was clearly not feeling very well. Nevertheless she was very happy with what these amazing kids have done for her, and told us how pleased she was that she would no longer have to feel the rainwater dripping onto her through the banana leaves which pass for a roof. The kids explained to the visitors how they had gone about the process of making the bricks and building the house, which has a door which can lock as well as a tin roof with a rain gutter. They also told us how, after the widow moves into her house they will knock down the little round hut she now calls home and help her plant a vegetable garden, assuring that she will be able to eat in the months ahead. 
I am so proud of these kids, and they should truly be so proud of themselves. What an amazing thing it is to know that as long as you have the desire and you are willing to put some hard work you are truly capable of changing someone’s life.
Tomorrow its back to the “work” of running the village – more meetings, more training sessions, more strategic planning. It is so much easier when you are reminded about the results of your efforts in such an incredible way. We set out to change the lives of children who, through no fault of their own, were facing incredibly bleak futures. We knew that our methodology would help to heal them and open passages for them that they could never contemplate before. But we couldn’t imagine how they would transform the lives of so many others long before they left the village. I want to thank the children of Agahozo-Shalom for taking me on this incredible journey with them. -
Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park
By Anne Heyman, Founder ASYV
Anne Heyman, founder of ASYV, is currently in the village and wrote this blog about her wonderful day at the village:
July 13,2011 Once again I find myself waking up at the crack of dawn – literally – and I lie in bed listening to the wind in the banana trees which sounds like rain but not really, because here in Rwanda it’s the dry season. With rain being highly unlikely, the sun peeking in your windows and all the birds chirping their early morning singing songs….you know it’s just another day in paradise. You may think that is an exaggeration, but if you haven’t been here yet, you cannot even imagine how beautiful it is. And if you are a nature lover….let me tell you about what I did today.
At lunch I was approached by Fidel, the head of the Environment Club, and he asked if it would be possible for some of the students in the environment club to take me on a walk through “the Park” – the newly designated conservation area which visitors to Agahozo-Shalom can now take a guided walk through. I am told that so far over 200 students have worked on or participated in the creation of the nature trail, which is still under construction and in doing so they have all been exposed to the importance of protecting our environment (as well as the fun you can have in doing so!) Starting at the back of the school, where 4 state of the art large greenhouses are sprouting all kinds of plants (it’s been a long time since I tasted such a delicious tomato) we followed the fence line until we saw the sign: Agahozo-Shalom Nature Park. The whole way leading up to the entrance I was learning about why caring for our environment is so important from the 5 members of the Environment Club who undertook to give me my tour! Turning left onto the trail I was shown a one page “map” of some of the plants, trees, birds and wildlife I could possibly encounter. I am pleased to report that were no pictures of lions or baboons on the page; although there was the chance of encountering an Ichneumon Mongoose (who I am told are good because they eat snakes….and we did in fact not encounter any snakes on the path!) Immediately after stepping onto the path we were surrounded by butterflies of all types, and it was explained to me how important they are for pollination. An acacia tree led to a discussion about the different types of acacia trees, and which ones were used traditionally for church gatherings under the shady trees.
Innocent, Paulina, Leonard, Fidel, and Anne-Marie followed in short succession; with a discussion of each types of plant, the Kinyarwanda name, the English name and the scientific name all being provided. Despite the fact that it was 2:30 in the afternoon we were treated to encounters with Speckled Mousebirds, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, and a Bateleur Eagle, just a few of the over 125 species of birds which have been documented at the village by our resident bird expert and erstwhile volunteer, Jared. (For those of you who are serious bird watchers, we are proud to let you know that Agahozo-Shalom is one of the few places where you can regularly spot Sooty Chats, Cinnamon-chested Bee-eaters, and Yellow-throated Longclaws).
Yellow-throated Longclaw
Agahozo-Shalom is a village of hope, a village of learning, a village of promise and change. And it is a village filled with delightful surprises: Kids who have amazing voices, traditional poetry written by young people with old soles, wonderful murals painted by our resident artists, homemade potato chips (ok not that often but when we do get them…I have never tasted any potato chips so delicious)….and now there is one more….our very own very special nature preserve…..complete with a guided tour that I guarantee you will never forget.
