ASYV

Information taken from http://www.asyv.org/

The mission of Agahozo Shalom Youth Village is to enable orphanzed and vulnerable youth to realize their maximum potential by providing them with a safe and secure living environment, health care, education and necessary life skills. Education and service are used to model and create socially responsible citizens in Rwanda and around the world.

Modeled after Yemin Orde, an Israeli youth village established in 1953, which originally cared for orphans from the Holocaust, ASYV is a place where "tears are dried" (signified by the Kinyarwanda word, agahozo) and where vulnerable youth can “live in peace” (from the Hebrew word, shalom).

ASYV's model combines three essential elements to encourage our youths' intellectual and emotional growth: 
• Loving support of a family
• A structured education
• Enriching extracurricular programs

The family structure is key to our youths' healing. The village places each youth, by gender, into residential families of 16. The family environment fosters a 'brother' and 'sister' dynamic. In each home, a Rwandan mama guides our youth through their healing and holds the primary responsibility for each child's physical and emotional well-being.