One of the best ways to support the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is to volunteer locally. ACT NOW! Organize a Race4Rwanda in your community in Seven Simple Steps.
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Check out the latest Race:
The 8th Graders in the Chesed Club at SAR Academy in Riverdale, NY raised over $1000 dollars for ASYV! The used the money to purchase bedding and school supplies for ASYV, and made a generous donation to support the ASYV farm.
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"Doing
the Race4Rwanda through the NY Triathlon is amazing! The New York
City Triathlon is an annual event that involves a one mile plunge
in the Hudson River, a 40K bike ride on the West Side Highway and
a 10K run in Central Park. It is in an awe-inspiring experience that
is uniquely New York and actually a lot of fun. What takes it to
the next level is doing it on behalf of the kids at the Agahozo-Shalom
Youth Village. Knowing that your efforts will make a tangible difference
in their lives is what inspires you to keep swimming, biking, and
running—and really pushing yourself. It’s a double achievement:
completing a fantastic athletic event and playing a direct role in
the continued success of ASYV."
"It
all sort of started as a bet over a glass of wine at a friend’s
birthday party. Some friends at work had done the NYC Triathlon in
2009 to raise money for the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda.
I was one of the head cheerleaders for our team that year and did what
I could to support all the participants. But that night in October
2009 one of those friends challenged me to do more. “You can
do it Knopp! It’s for a great cause!” she said. What a
tremendous understatement that was! As March rolled around I began
my training, I can say I wasn’t always thrilled waking up in
the dark winter mornings to go for a run or jump in the pool, but I
kept thinking that this was nothing compared to what the kids at the
Village went through. Whenever I wanted to hit snooze on the alarm,
or stop running during the months of training, or when I wanted to
do just about anything else other than jump into the Hudson River on
race day, I just thought about the Village and the strength of the
young people there. It was a personal challenge for me—both mentally
and physically—to do the Tri, but I did it because of the inspiration
I found from ASYV. I also had tremendous support from my friends, family
and colleagues who helped me to raise nearly $5000 and who came out
and cheered me on (and talked me off a ledge occasionally when I thought
of actually doing the race!). If anyone is thinking about this and
thinks they can’t do it, I will say to you that you absolutely
can! I am so glad for that conversation over that glass of wine last
year. It was a tremendous experience for me to do this race and I am
so happy to have been able to make a difference in the lives of some
incredible kids and the future of their country. " 
"While
I may not be running a marathon in the literal sense, I am continuing
the race I began almost two years ago when I left Manhattan's West
Village to volunteer for the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. The ASYV
kids gave me the most exciting, challenging, rewarding, and undoubtedly
wonderful year of my life, and they transitioned my feeling that I
had left home into the feeling that I had come home. I have such a
strong desire to be with them today, so I'm continuing my race to be
present by supporting them even when I can’t physically be in
the Village. They deserve the world, and I'll never be quite the same
because of them. That's why I'm racing." 
