- 2006 news
Clinton Global Initiative Recognizes JDC’s Agahozo-Shalom Village Project in Rwanda
New York--The Clinton Global Initiative has recognized the Commitment of the Heyman-Merrin Family Foundation through partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Yemin Orde Children’s Village in Israel, to form the Agahozo-Shalom Village, a home for orphaned children in Rwanda where traumatized youth can live in a safe and structured community.
The Agahozo Shalom Village project was initiated by Anne Heyman, after hearing a lecture in November 2005 on the 1994 Rwandan genocide [1]. It was readily apparent to her that one of the most devastating aftermaths of the Rwandan tragedy was the approximately 1,200,000 children -almost 15% of the Rwandan population- who have been forever robbed of their parents, communities, homes — and robbed of the hope for a viable future in their country.
The Agahozo[2] Shalom Village seeks to provide a comprehensive and targeted response to this disheartening problem, through the establishment of a multi-faceted youth village, envisioned and built in partnership with American, Israeli, and Rwandan communities. The basis for the model is the concept of the Village as home, providing children with a holistic and protective environment, thus helping them to overcome trauma and abandonment. The Agahozo-Shalom Village will provide a safe home where unconditional support allows children to thrive, a high school which enables them to shape their future, and a medical clinic to ensure their health and well-being, as well as that of the surrounding communities [3].
The Agahozo-Shalom Village Project is a partnership between the JDC, Yemin Orde Initiatives, a special project of the Israeli Children's Village, and a Rwandan NGO which will be created to run the Village. A team from Yemin Orde, largely made up of Ethiopian-Israelis who are YO graduates themselves, will train their Rwandan counterparts in the successful establishment and continued running of a culturally sensitive model youth village, reflective of the Rwandan reality and context. The ultimate goal is to have the village run, staffed, populated, and eventually supported by Rwandans.
[1] In April 1994, extremist leaders of Rwanda's Hutu majority launched a campaign of extermination against the country's Tutsi minority. In less than 100 days, over 800,000 people were murdered, and the country was forever changed. [2] Agahozo is a Kinyarwanda word that means "the place where tears are dried" [3] Trauma, HIV/AIDS, and other medical conditions affect many of these orphans.
