Stories from the Village
Updates on everything ASYV
2024 has been packed with new programs and new experiences. Our new vocational training program is providing our kids with crucial skills to launch their careers. We organized a Grand Study Tour, so that our fourth-year students could see Rwanda and better visualize all the possibilities their futures might hold.
In addition, the new ASYV Early Childhood Development Center opened and is now supporting our staff and their children. One of our very own ASYV alumni helped lead the center's development and launch.
This school year, fourth-year student Amata Belyse founded the ASYV Sign Language Club. She wanted to give her brothers and sisters the tools to connect with people in their communities who have hearing or speaking impairments.
In addition, third-year student Leila Ihezagirwe discusses why she designed and built a lamp that is accessible to people with disabilities.
I believe the most authentic way to honor and cherish Anne's memory is to keep transforming tragedy into a powerful force for positivity and lasting impact. Anne was a visionary leader who possessed an unwavering compassion and an unyielding commitment to helping others — with her greatest efforts placed into providing a nurturing and supportive haven for orphaned and vulnerable youth in Rwanda.
In late September, we were thrilled to welcome the students of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) back for the 2023–2024 school year. These students included our 130 first-year kids. There are few moments as special as greeting our newest family members, knowing all the opportunity that lies ahead of them.
Meanwhile, our older students began the year with a renewed commitment to Tikkun Olam—repairing the world—and to expressing themselves through passions like painting.
Thank you for your support of Village Time! Nearly 250 members of our Village family from the United States, Rwanda, and around the world joined us to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) and honor all 1,800 of our kids and alumni.
Thanks to our community's generosity, Village Time raised over $700,000 to support our kids! This total includes nearly $170,000 raised last night during a special appeal.
The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village was founded on an Israeli model, one in which every child deserves a loving family, a safe home, and the opportunity to live their dreams.
We are horrified by the acts of violence committed against the people of Israel and heartbroken for the Israeli and Palestinian families being torn apart by this crisis. May we recommit ourselves to tikkun olam—our responsibility to repair the world—in this time of mourning.
This month, at the outset of the new school year marking our 15th anniversary, we asked graduates from our first class, the class of 2012, and our most recent one, the class of 2023, to tell us about their ASYV journey.
We also discuss our Educational Resilience Program and what 15 years of experience has made possible.
On June 30, the 123 members of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village’s (ASYV’s) Ishyaka Grade walked to receive their diplomas and enter the futures they worked for, and dreamed of, throughout the five years they lived inside our gates. Ishyaka means determination and enthusiasm, and during the ceremony, the graduates sang, danced, spoke, acted, received awards, and showcased the incredible determination and enthusiasm that is their grade’s name.
Today, T4 Education announced that the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village’s (ASYV’s) own Jean Claude Nkulikiyimfura is a finalist for the Africa Education Medal. The award honors individuals who have displayed exceptional impact and leadership in the field of education in Africa.
Please join us in congratulating JC for this incredible accomplishment!
In early April, our kids returned to their home communities for the term break and Kwibuka, the annual commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Just before their departure, we hosted an event called Walk with Me, exploring the healing power of the arts and artistic community. During the event, created by Rwandan artist Jemima Kakizi, students made their own art and discussed the feelings brought up by that act of creation.
Bwira News
This section features stories, videos, and art created by our kids. Students selected the name Bwira, which means "to tell" in Kinyarwanda.
Before the Grand Study Tour, like most Rwandans, I would use the statement “a land of a thousand hills,” but I couldn’t imagine how a country like Rwanda, which is among the smallest in the world, could actually hold a thousand hills. By the time our bus approached the Western Province, I was very amazed.
A poem by Ihimbazwe Umutesi Tumusifu, ASYV Class of 2024
One day, I was sitting in an electronics class, and the teacher explained that in this class, we are trained to become problem solvers. In my home community, I often saw people with missing limbs and trouble moving. I started thinking about a project I could make that would help people with physical disabilities.
Third-year student Pacifique Ishimwe discusses a Tikkun Olam—repairing the world—initiative he started to help students at a primary school neighboring ASYV learn English. Prior to coming to the Village, Pacifique attended the school himself.
Visual art is my rhythmic breath. A dance of inhales and exhales, where each stroke births beauty born of creation and dreams. In this space, knowledge graciously steps aside, allowing the boundless expanse of imagination to take center stage—meaning that knowing is nothing at all but to imagine is everything.
We are exhilarated to share the 2023 edition of the student-produced Liquidnet Magazine with you, the ASYV community. We have no doubt that you are going to enjoy this masterpiece filled with written expressions and emotions made as we embrace the culture of writing, strive for success, and wrap up this academic year of 2022–2023.
Below is the text of the valedictorian speech I gave at my graduation. I wanted to submit it to Bwira News in the hope it may inspire others to learn something and/or pursue their passions.
On March 10, we held a workshop for girls interested in writing prose and/or poems exploring their own lived experiences with gender-based issues and their feelings on working together to overcome them. Three second-year students, Ruth Kayatesi, Esther Mukakamanzi, and Deborah Butati, shared the poems they wrote for Bwira News.
Catch up on the latest happenings at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). All news updates are student performed, edited, and produced in collaboration with Enock Mutabazi, ASYV Class of 2022 and current Media Intern.
In western, eastern, and central sub-Saharan Africa, 80% of people with vision impairment do not receive treatment for the issue. In Rwanda, vision impairment affects more than 400,000 people. Our research found that without aids, the condition has a negative influence on people’s health, increasing the risk of collisions and falling. Most cannot go outside without a person to guide them, and they do not have jobs. Many are beggars. Many die.