By Shiri Sandler, Managing Director, ASYV
In 2018, I was driving with two of our alumni, Claude Irankunda and Bonfils Habiyambere, to an event in Rochester, New York. They were regaling me with stories of being in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village while it was being built.
Read MoreBy Jean-Claude Nkulikiyimfura, Executive Director, ASYV
Twenty-seven years ago, there was nothing here in Rwanda. The country was a failed state after the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. I was one of the lucky ones who was not in Rwanda during the killings. I went to high school in France and college in the U.S.
Read MoreBy Pacifique Rutamu, ASYV Class of 2013
When the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi was over, my dad had passed away. My mom had to make sure we had food. At times, that was not easy. And I know now that those events impacted the way I perceived the world. After I arrived at ASYV, everything changed for me.
Read MoreBy Jason Merrin, Board Member, ASYV
I don’t remember the exact moment my mom [Anne Heyman] decided that ASYV would be the thing that she dedicated her life to. She always said her values, her feeling of responsibility to make the world a better place, were born out of her Jewish identity, and the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam.
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