Agahozo Shalom Youth Village

Agahozo literally means A Place where tears a dried. Anne Heyman wanted to call the village something in the local Kinyarwanda. The story goes that her daughter was looking up words in the Kinyarwandan Dictionary, and one of the first words to pop out, an A word happened to be the best fit. Anne Heyman was bringing Youth Villages to Rwanda, a place reeling from genocide, only 15 years prior. The orphans the babies born out of one of the most violent conflicts on the African continent were growing up. Today ASYV takes in the most vulnerable of Rwanda's youth, and fosters them into socially responsible adults. The philosophy of the village employs a family structure and a combination of community service, and formal and informal education. The kids are split up into 8 families of boys or girls. Upon arrival, they receive a family mother, who will live with them for four years, a big brother who will mentor them throughout their time in the village, and a cousin, a foreign year long volunteer. I was a cousin to Family 8 with Mama Jeanne and Big Brother Edward

Taken October 19, 2017 Traditional Rwandan Dance performed by Isheja Agahozo Shalom Youth Village’s award winning traditional dance troupe. Here they perform at the latest graduation ceremony. @agahozoshalom is a school and home for Rwanda's most vulnerable teens.

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