The Spark of an Idea
In November of 2005, Agahozo-Shalom Founder Anne Heyman and her husband, Seth Merrin, heard a talk about the Rwandan genocide. At a dinner after the talk, Seth asked the speaker to identify the biggest problem Rwanda faced. The answer was the vast number of orphans with no systemic solution to support their well-being and development.
Immediately Anne, a South African-born lawyer and mother of three living in New York City, connected the challenge of the Rwandan orphan population to the similar challenge that Israel faced after the Second World War. When there was a large influx of orphans from the Holocaust,, Israel built residential living communities called youth villages. Anne was inspired to bring this model to Rwanda.
Making Connections
Anne began reaching out to people in Israel, Rwanda and the United States to share her idea and learn how to realize her vision. In April 2006, Anne and her team found a model to emulate in the Yemin Orde Youth Village in Israel. That summer, they determined that it was a model that would work extremely well in the Rwandan context.Anne then set about creating a formal structure for the project. In September of 2006, she met with officials at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), an international humanitarian organization, which agreed to house and offer logistical support for the project. Agahozo-Shalom began as a special project of JDC’s non-sectarian international development program.The Village is in the process of becoming an independent 501(c)3.
