informal education

Enrichment Programs

There are 20 Enrichment Programs (EPs) available at Agahozo Shalom. These programs are instructed and planned by our Informal Education staff. Every kid chooses a sport EP and an art EP for each term. All of our programs are focused on critical thinking, skill building, teamwork and individual expression. 

Sport activities:

Art activities:

CLUBS 

There are 15 clubs at Agahozo Shalom comprised of 16 kids each (one representative from every family). The clubs are an opportunity for young people to develop leadership skills. One role for the clubs is to diagnose problems in the Village and create change. Spurring such change gives ASYV youth a stronger sense of ownership over their village home. All clubs are student run and each has a committee of officers that organize and run the weekly meetings.

1. Leadership Club: Members of the Research and Development Club evaluate societal issues in Rwanda and conduct field research. They gain anthropological skills as participant observers in their communities and learn both how to collect and analyze data. The members of this club also promote taking education outside the classroom to their peers.

2. Research and Development Club: Members of the Research and Development Club evaluate societal issues in Rwanda and conduct field research.  They gain anthropological skills as participant observers in their communities and learn both how to collect and analyze data. The members of this club also promote taking education outside the classroom to their peers.  

3. Art Club: The Art Club is a collection of kids who are invested in making our Village more beautiful. They initiate projects such as large scale murals, mosaics, and other artistic expressions that illuminate the character and values ofASYV. 

 4. Technical Club: Members of the Technical Club learn the ins and outs of Village maintenance including our water collection systems, electricity, and sound systems. With these skills the members of the Technical Club are able to operate the equipment needed to execute a multi-media production. 

5. Debate Club: The members of debate club discuss and choose topics for weekly debates that take place in every family. They research current events and present a two sided argument so that the Village community is more educated about the world around them. Debate serves as a real lesson in respecting other's opinions, critical thinking, and articulating one's own beliefs.

6. Newspaper Club: The members of the Newspaper Club produce a monthly publication about life in the Village. They work to deadline and learn formatting and composition skills. They understand the importance of making news in the Village accessible to our friends and family abroad and are working on both English and Kinyarwanda editions. 

7. Television News Club: The members of the TV news club produce a weekly audio-visual news program that is played every Friday for the whole Village. The kids learn filming, script-writing, presentation, and editing skills, and also execute the same research process as the newspaper staff.

8. Movie Club: The members of Movie Club research films and create an educational movie library for the Village. They prepare a summary of each title in the collection and choose the film to be shown at the weekly movie night. The club members raise questions to consider before the showing and lead a discussion afterwards. 

9. Environmental Club: The members of the Environmental Club learn about resource conservation. The club promotes a clean and beautiful Village community through lessons about saving water, trash decomposition, and littering. They work to identify environmental issues in our Village and surrounding community and implement solutions.

 10. Canteen Club: The Canteen Club runs our Village canteen (convenience store). The members learn business strategy and entrepreneurial skills. They are responsible for organizing supplies needed to run a successful business, creating a monthly budget, organizing the canteen schedule and staff, and developing a marketing strategy. 

11. Farm Club: The members of the Farm Club organize the farm activities for the Village community service. Service takes place every Saturday morning for 3 hours and the families rotate through a list of maintenance projects. The club members learn horticulture management and coordination skills by working closely with the farm staff.

12. Village Time Club: The members of the Village Time Club prepare the weekly Village meeting that takes place Friday evening to review the events of the past week. This assembly gives all members of the Village the opportunity to sit together, as a large family, and discuss problems encountered in order to generate community solutions. Village Time is also the forumTV news and kids share various talents such as songs, poems, crafts, and dance.

13. Tikkun Olam Club: The members of the Tikkun Olam Club organize their peers in community service projects in order to give back toour greater community outside the Village. They learn about the problems plaguing Rwandan society and examine how they can use what they have to help others. Specific organizational tasks include coordinating Tuesday service in the town of Rubona. Projects include maintaining vegetable gardens for struggling families, rebuilding crumbling homes, tutoring at the local elementary school, and helping out at the local health clinic.

14. Religion Club: The purpose of the Religion Club is to provide a non-sectarian organization responsible for recognizing the religions and observances of all those practicing in the Village including Catholicism, Protestantism, Seventh Day Adventism, and Islam. The members keep a calendar of all holidays and educate the community about customs practiced. They also address any problems that members of religious groups may encounter. This club recognizes the importance of education and teaching acceptance of different world views and beliefs.

15. Village Cultural Unity Club: The members of the Cultural Unity Club serve a similar role to that of  the members of the Religion Club: they are ambassadors of acceptance. There are many different cultures in our Village community. Our kids come from all 30 districts of Rwanda and they bring with them varying traditions, dialects, and viewpoints. There are also American,Burundian, Congolese,  Israeli, and Ugandan cultures present in the Village. In order to learn from each other, the Cultural Unity Club assesses Village culture and core values, advocating for strong morals that are an amalgamation of all the cultures represented here. 

In addition to the clubs in the Village, there are committees representing each grade.  The members discuss issues specific to each grade and settle inter-grade conflict. For example, one topic of discussion may be: influences or factors that distract students from their studies in the Village. These committees also work to strengthen the link between the grades, and between the school and the informal aspects of the Village.