"If You See Far, You will Go Far"
September, 2014
On September 2014 I traveled to Rwanda with JDC Entwine on a service and development trip, where we volunteered in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), home to 500 students from all over Rwanda who had lost everything in the country’s genocide and its aftermath.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in the deaths of an estimated 800,000 men, women, and children, and left close to 1.2 million orphaned children. ASYV was founded in 2008 by the philanthropist Anne Heyman and with the support of JDC, as a full-time residential high-school whose fundamental goal is to allow the process of healing. ASYV name stands for a place "tears are dried" (signified by the Kinyarwanda word, agahozo) and where vulnerable youth can “live in peace” (from the Hebrew word, shalom).
"If you see far, you will go far", is the first thing a teen will hear when s/he joins the ASYV, and this place truly enables the students to dream and think about their future for the first time. During our stay we organised a career panel for them, and we met with motivated students who wish to influence society and help rebuild a better future for Rwanda.
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Modeled after Yemin Orde Youth Village in Israel, which was established in 1953 to help orphans of the Holocaust, the students live in family structures. Each student is assigned by gender into residential families of 16, where they live with a "mother", a women who lost her family members in the genocide, and an “older brother”, a Rwandan student. The family environment fosters a 'brother' and 'sister' dynamic. Every family house is named after a Jewish leader or influencer.
I was surprised by the openness the students talked about their family history in the genocide, and their interest in my family history in the Holocaust. Confronting the shared history was very challenging for me, the similarities are hard to reconcile with. The fact that the events of 1994 took place decades after the holocaust is inconceivable, and makes you think about the lessons the world should have learned from history.
During our stay in ASYV we learned about the students’ weekly routine, and joined them on different activities: the enrichment activities of art, music and the fantastic dance group, the family activities, the agricultural and kitchen assignments and we even joined the running activity on Saturday early morning that was absolutely the most fun running experience I ever had- as everyone are singing and cheering all along the way. But one of the most significant activities was to join them on “Tikkun Olam” activity. These students, who are not Jewish, gave me the best lesson on what does “Tikkun Olam” means, that of social action and the pursuit of social justice. Every week the students go and teach English in schools, help in the clinics, and build houses for people in need in their neighbouring community. Literally - build houses. The understanding of how Jewish values can change people’s lives in the places it’s needed most, made me connect to this Jewish value and feel proud of my Jewish heritage.
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Taking part in these activities and learning about how ASYV was established made me truly believe in the good nature of people and that each one of us has the potential to make the world a better place. This was my first encounter with JDC’s work outside of Israel, and I’m so grateful to be able to take part this year in their work of making the world a better place.
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The family that embraced us during our stay at ASYV
