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Reach Out Rwanda
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Tikkun Olam at ASYV
Talya Curtis, London, England
The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda prides itself in installing in the children the idea that they, orphans of the genocide, are
worthy of helping those less fortunate than themselves. This concept of going outside the village to help others is not only to help them recognize how lucky they are to be in ASYV, but also to teach them that every person has something to give to the community and wider society.Anne Heyman, the founder of ASYV, built the Village on Jewish values and thus, the Village sets aside one afternoon a week to do Tikun Olam, the Jewish notion of repairing the world. There are three options of Tikun Olam that the children can choose from: elementary school, social work, and HIV-AIDS clinic. I chose to go to the HIV-AIDS clinic with the children. As soon as we walked out of the Village, I immediately noticed the difference between those who are lucky enough to live in ASYV and those who live outside. The former are better dressed, well-nourished and speak impeccable English.
Arriving at the clinic was a big shock for me. The clinic was made up of a few dark and rundown buildings, some made of mud. There was nothing inside the clinic that resembled a medical center, no electrical medical equipment, no real waiting rooms and hardly any
medical supplies. We were given a tour around the clinic, but during the tour I couldn’t help but get distracted by the background noise. My eyes couldn’t focus on the doctor talking to us. All that my eyes were drawn to were the mothers outside trying to cradle their sick and crying babies. As we were told later, the babies scream with pain because they have not eaten or drunk water for days, often weeks. This for me was painful to be around but the children of ASYV didn’t seem fazed by it, and I couldn’t understand why. It was only until later that day that I realized why. The children of ASYV used to be like those children I saw in the clinic, stricken by poverty and often sickness, and it made me so grateful for the work that this Village does for the children. They have been given a life-changing opportunity: an education, medical treatment, support system and most importantly hope, and I am deeply honored to be a part of this. -
Solar Lights at ASYV
by Amy Price
The village is installing solar powered lights! The most exciting part is that it’s generating lots of questions. As you know, my 2 favorite things to do are hanging out with my kids and spending time on the farm with the farm workers. I was working in the
amashaza (my new favorite Kinyarwanda word which is peas) with 5 of the farm workers. They just installed one of the solar lights at the farm. As we were working, they asked many questions. They were asking if the light cost money. I explained that it is a onetime cost for the light but it doesn’t cost anything to run it. I explained to them how solar power works (thanks to my job at Teva!) and the power of the sun. I told them that the sun doesn’t ask us for any money and they thought it was funny. They asked if also use them in the United States. I explained about many of the technologies that are being used as alternatives to power plants. I talked about solar, hydroelectric, and windmills. The conversation turned to many other things. They had so many questions and were very interested to learn about these things. I told them about cars that are powered by vegetable oil. I told them that I have friends that go to restaurants, take the used oil from making french fries, and then turn it into something that can be used for fuel. It’s amazing how installing one light led to some many questions and such a great conversation. I think this is one of the best ways to learn by experiencing and then asking questions. Goooooo…SUN!!!! -
The Village Times: Volume 1, Issue 2
Click here to read the second issue of The Village Times.
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Teaching English at Rubona Primary School
By DUSENGE Venuste (Class of 2012) & INGABIRE Marie Chantal (Counselor and Tikkun Olam Committee member)
This year (2010) the kids of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village started doing Tikkun Olam in social affairs, school, and clinic outside the village.
Some of the kids of ASYV went to the primary school in Rubona. Ours goal was to give English lesson and to create friendships with the school (both with the kids and their educators).
Before we started volunteering at the school, we went there to explain about Tikkun Olam and ask them what they wanted us to do to help them. The principal of the school told us that it would be good if we could teach English to the kids in Primary 4. So we agreed to start teaching their kids the English lessons.
There are 245 kids in P4. ASYV kids split up into ten groups. Each group had two students from Agahozo-Shalom and about 25 students from P4.
The methods used for teaching English were: showing the kids pictures and then giving them explanations of those pictures, reading stories to them, playing games, showing movies, and practicing conversation.
The kids in Rubona primary school were so happy to be with us. Since one of our goals was to create friendship with our neighbors, including those kids of primary school, we invited them to the village for a tour and explanation of our village.
At the end of each term we gave them an assessment test to see if they understood what we were teaching them.
We ended the year by asking the teachers of those kids if they have seen the improvement. The teachers said that there was a big improvement in speaking, reading, and even in writing English. The teachers also said that the Primary 4 students have developed self-confidence, which was a big achievement because before we started working with them the kids used to have a fear of speaking English.
This project was not only good for the kids of the primary school, but it was also good for kids from Agahozo-Shalom. They said that they too were able to learn many things from the kids of Rubona primary school.
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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
