Heroes' Day arrived with a bright blue morning, the fresh air greeting the Agahozo Shalom community and our guests. Everyone began the day assembled underneath the mango tree. It was a good place to start the day as the mango tree is the site of one of the most heroic moments in ASYV history, when Village founder Anne Heyman purchased the surrounding land from 96 different land owners in order to build the village.
Read More"Each day we continue to improve, to become better - and even without her, it is thanks to her."
Read MoreNew Year's Eve at Agahozo-Shalom was as unique as it was wonderful. It was so special to celebrate the changing of the calendar with the new Enrichment Year students at the Village. Preparations for the event began almost as soon as the students arrived.
Read MoreOn opening day for the Enrichment Year students, the ASYV journey begins for more than 120 students who arrive from throughout Rwanda's 30 districts. From near and far, they came to a bus stop in Rwamagana, from where they were shuttled to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Some of the students traveling from the Western Provinces took motorbikes to Kigali and spent the night in the city before making the trip. All were met by Village mothers and ASYV staff who were eager to welcome the new students and their guardians. Each was greeted with warm hugs, and arms grasping forearms. One by one the students piled into the Village buses to be transported down through a valley of rice fields and farms and up onto the ridge where ASYV is located. The buses pulled into the gates of ASYV, past the colorful walls painted with the words “If you see far, you will go far,” and stopped at the dining hall. The students and guardians unloaded from their shuttles and began signing in with staff at tables on the balcony of the dining hall.
Read MoreWhile October 19th may have been a very normal day for most people in Rwanda, it was anything but at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Cloudy skies loomed overhead holding back rain, mushanana-clad educators ran around campus and green capped and gowned students eagerly took pictures with their Village families.
Read MoreNicholas Navarro joined the University of Pennsylvania Hillel's service learning trip to ASYV this past May for an unforgettable week exploring the Village and Rwanda.
Nicholas is the highest fundraiser of any service trip participant in 2017 to date. We caught up with Nicholas to hear more about his experience visiting the Village and his tips on how to be a successful peer-to-peer fundraiser.
Read MoreCongratulations to our newly elected 2018 Student Government ministers!
Read MoreWe can't believe that second term is already coming to a close! Check out the July 2017 newsletter for messages from Student Government and leadership about how to stay healthy over break, using free time to give back and what to expect in the third term!
Read MoreThis is the first year Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) has been fully implemented at ASYV. We’re learning so much about our students and programs, and starting to make some exciting changes!
For the first time, the MEAL team collected baseline data on all new students. Baseline data includes recruitment data, answers to the Intake form completed by students’ guardians on their first day, information from students’ physical and psychosocial evaluations, and their answers to two surveys, DAP (Developmental Asset Profile) and KAP (Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices) administered in their first few weeks at ASYV.
Read MoreOne of the best parts of being a student at ASYV is the opportunity to apply skills and information you learn in the classroom to the real world. ASYV’s Entrepreneurship program is one of the strongest examples of this.
This week, the Senior 6 (equivalent to high school seniors) students got the chance to go on an Entrepreneurship Field Trip with Technoserve, our partner that created and helped facilitate ASYV’s Entrepreneurship program. This was a special occasion for the kids, not just because it was a chance to leave the Village, but also because it was an opportunity to see how to turn your business ideas into a reality.
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