By Matthew Matola | Development Associate
As a holistic living and learning community for Rwanda’s most vulnerable youth, the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village is committed to healing its students’ past traumas while nurturing the confidence they need to make a positive difference. A key element of ASYV’s healing process is the practice of Tikkun Olam, or “repairing the world.” Managing their own community service projects as part of our Tikkun Olam Leadership Program, our kids feel empowered by performing acts of kindness for others. These projects also enable our kids to inspire hope in the local community, something which our Healthy Living Group aimed to achieve when they recently decided to bring Tikkun Olam to the nearby Rwamagana Hospital.
Planning their visit to coincide with the national celebration of Patients’ Day, an occasion dedicated to comforting people in need of healing, our kids set out to embody the spirit of the holiday. The week before their visit was a testament to our students’ enthusiasm and remarkable sense of generosity. They began by collecting donations from the ASYV community, which ranged from financial contributions to much-needed items like clothing and sanitation supplies. The members of our Healthy Living Group, a student club dedicated to promoting healthy habits in each of our student families, also prepared two performance pieces focused on health and wellness.
When Patients’ Day arrived, our Healthy Living Group packed up their donations and traveled to Rwamagana Hospital. Gathered beneath three white tents in the hospital courtyard, our students presented their donations to an audience of patients, nurses, doctors, and local officials. Our kids then delivered their first performance, an educational sketch designed to provide information on malaria prevention. The second performance, a poem written and delivered by an ASYV student named Anitha, was entitled “Humura Nturi Wenyine – Do Not Worry, You Are Not Alone.” Anitha added that “Many people who are sick lose hope. We are here telling people that we think of them, that we care about them. I thought of doing something that can give hope. I didn’t have money, but by using my hands I felt like I could write something that would help them feel that they are not alone.”
Our students also met with individual patients. By handing out their contributions personally, our kids had the opportunity to speak with the people receiving treatment, a simple but profound gesture to raise the spirits and restore a sense of dignity. Commenting on their donations and the importance of these conversations, one ASYV student named Ange said, “It’s a pleasure to be here and to help the people who are sick. I’m giving them something that they need…to help them not be worried, to encourage them.” By providing the patients of Rwamagana Hospital with essential supplies, as well as emotional and informational support, our kids played a meaningful part in this year’s Patients’ Day.
Experiences like this, which teach our students that they have the power to make a difference, are critical to our kids’ development. By helping our students to understand that they really do have the potential to achieve their goals, our Tikkun Olam Leadership Program allows our kids to see that they have value, and that they can play a part in Rwanda’s ongoing development.
We hope you enjoyed this brief glimpse into our students’ ongoing commitment to community service, one of the many ways they are working to overcome the past and build a more compassionate future for Rwanda. If you would like to learn more, we invite you to follow the links below. Murakoze cyane (thank you very much) for your steadfast support!
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