Bringing it Back!

Hello everyone!

We know you haven’t heard from us in quite some time. This is because we have been busy meeting and brainstorming on what the most effective way to bring it back would be. Over the past few weeks we have put together an awesome program that ties together several aspects of our trip.

This Tuesday, May 3 from 7-8:30 at the University Hillel Foundation (611 Langdon Street, Madison, WI 53703) UW Rwanda will be hosting our first event. We are starting off the event with a screening of the Oscar nominated documentary “God Sleeps in Rwanda,” a conversation about the challenges facing Rwanda today.

Movie Summary: The 1994 Rwandan Genocide left the country nearly 70 percent female, handing Rwanda’s women an extraordinary burden and an unprecedented opportunity. Girls are attending school in record numbers, and women now make up a large part of the country’s leadership. Working with two cameras and no crew except for their translator—a genocide survivor herself—the filmmakers uncover incredible stories: an HIV-positive policewoman raising four children alone and attending night school to become a lawyer, a teenager who has become head of household for her four siblings, and a young woman orphaned in her teens who is now the top development official in her area. Heart-wrenching and inspiring, this powerful film is a brutal reminder of the consequences of the Rwandan tragedy, and a tribute to the strength and spirit of those who are moving forth.

In addition, several of our trip participants will be speaking about their experiences in Rwanda and reading excerpts of their journals from the trip. We have also incorporated a fundraising aspect to the event and will be selling photos taken by UW students from Rwanda and all proceeds will benefit the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda.

To see the event on facebook, or if you would like to RSVP via-facebook, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=120209284724611&index=1

On another note, when in Rwanda we were informed that one of the village’s biggest goals for the upcoming year was to obtain a water bottle for every student in the village with the ASYV logo printed on it. They would also like to have a few hundred extra to be able to sell to visitors and volunteers as another form of fundraising for the village. Our group has been trying to find someone or a company that would be able to donate the water bottles (approximately 1000 of them) but have not had any luck. Our next option would be looking into fundraising for them and then purchasing them on our own. Before we look into that however, we wanted to see if any of our blog readers had any connections or if the companies that they worked for may be able to make the donation or produce the water bottles. If you think you may be able to help us please contact Ilana Goren (Hillel Program Director and Trip Leader) at 608-256-8361 (main Hillel line)

 

Thanks and we hope to see you all at the event tomorrow!

-Jordan

Almost Home

We have finally made it to Chicago and are now waiting for our bus to get here to finish the last leg of our long journey. It is 3 pm Madison time now, but 9 pm Rwanda time, we have been traveling for a whopping 23 hours. We began our final day in Rwanda at 6:30 am for a final breakfast with the kids where we said our last goodbyes and exchanged last-minute email addresses. Many of our farewells were tearful and emotional. We will all really miss the kids and the country that has been our home for the past 10 days. The kids were starting their exams so when they went to school we went back to our rooms to clean and pack. We rigorously cleaned for about two hours, which included sweeping and squeeging the floors to clean them of the standard Rwandan red dirt. Then we loaded all our bags onto a truck, and loaded ourselves onto our van and headed to Kigali. There we did some final shopping at art co-ops and were able to eat lunch either of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from the grocery store, or at a restaurant nearby. After we had all successfully spent the last of our Rwandan francs, we boarded the bus again to go to the airport.
We checked in and after waiting around at the gate for about two hours we boarded the plane to Brussels. The plane made a stop in Nairobi, Kenya on the way to Brussels. The flight was smooth and pretty empty and many of us had almost a whole row to ourselves so we were able to stretch out and sleep for almost the whole flight. When we arrived in Brussels we were pretty well rested. We had two hours in the airport so we tried some Belgian chocolate and waited for the plane. Our flight to Chicago was long and despite some scary turbulence, we made it to Chicago right on time. We are all so exhausted but relieved to be off the planes and finishing our journey home. All in all our travels went smoothly, no lost people or luggage! We are excited to be home and take a hot shower, but we all miss Rwanda already. For many of us this was a life-changing experience and I know that none of us will ever forget it. We are ready to begin “bringing it back” and already have a meeting planned to discuss our trip and to work out the details of the ideas we have to “bring it back”. We will continue to update our blog with news of our friends at the village, our events, and current events in Rwanda.

Thank you all so much for following our trip to Rwanda, we hope you will continue to keep up to date with our blog and feel free to post your comments and questions!

Our Last Day in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village

Our last day in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village was absolutely breathtaking. It began with a few of us waking up at the crack of dawn to walk to the top of the hill to do yoga and watch the sunrise where the Agahozo-Shalom school is located. We gave a `sun salutation` by doing stretching and breathing exercises to start our day on a healthy note. We were initially disappointed that the clouds were blocking the sun but eventually it gave its hello by peering through the clouds to greet the Agahozo-Shalom students on their big study day before exams.

After breakfast, our group got the chance to attend the village’s church service, which they all agree was one of the most eye-opening experiences in their lives. The service was three hours full of heartfelt prayers in Kinyarwanda, as well as gorgeous songs sung by the village gospel choir, and a ten minute dance circle, which showed that the Rwandan students not only follow the text of Christianity, but also embody the spirit of the religion in their everyday hobbies and activities. Two of the Agahozo-Shalom students played drum sets on an electric keyboard while another beat a bongo to add lively rhythm to melodic traditional tunes. The service ended with a few prayers thanking UW students for volunteering at Agahozo-Shalom and hoping they will have safe travels and to remember to bring the positive messages of Rwanda with them to America and wherever they may go. The spirit that was felt during the service is incredibly hard to find back home in the States.

After lunch, we took a hike through the nearby town of Rubona and down a huge hill to see rice paddies. Rubona was very different from the last time we had visited because they got to see how people live on an average day in the town when there is no market. Yet little children still found the us to be an interesting rare sight and had a good time running up to them and following them down the hill to see the rice paddies. Sadly, Miki had to head back to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village after 45 minutes because she had a bad stomachache. Her illness had one major positive because she got to experience the local taxi system by hopping on the back of a motorcycle. The rest of the group continued descending down the hill to the rice paddies and outside Rubona’s city limits to their final destination. There they played soccer with many of the local children. On the way back to Agahozo-Shalom, many of the local Rubona children started to sing a song in unison when Emily began to jump to make them smile. The children sang the song all the way up the hill and Emily and Shira had a chance to learn this song later on in the day. The hike was a wonderful chance to communicate with locals and practice Kinyarwanda with people who spoke very little English.

After returning from the hike, many of the us delivered blankets to the individual family houses in the village so that they will have something to remember us by. All of the Agahozo-Shalom students were very pleased to receive their gifts and were happy to get another chance to spend quality time with the short-term volunteers. We also delivered UW paraphernalia as gifts to the guards and staff in the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, and it is safe to say that the staff was ecstatic to have been given such gifts.

After dinner, our group celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim around a bonfire created by the long-term volunteers at Agahozo. To make things more festive and to honor Jewish tradition, the long-term volunteers had also dressed up in costumes. Before starting the service, the students read about the history of Purim and its importance for the Jewish people. For the non-Jewish students on the trip, the Purim service served as a great learning experience and the heavy use of music made the service more accessible for everyone. Miki especially liked the songs because their purpose is to spread joy and to appreciate the moments we can share together. They also got a chance to drink locally made Passion fruit wine (a Mitzvah to do on Purim) which was very delicious, to say the least.

After the Purim service, the students had their last `Thorns and Roses` around the bonfire followed by a jamming song-session. The long-term volunteers at the village also got a chance to participate in `Thorns and Roses` and shared valuable insight on how the our group had done a great job in the past week bringing lots of energy and positivity to the village. Most of the our thorns were about how sad they were to be leaving the village and how they had felt like they were saying a temporary goodbye to members of their family. Many of us also had many ‘bouquets’ of roses, including gifts the Agahozo-Shalom students had given them and how inspired they all were by the morning church service.

During the our time at the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, we got to discover how children who don’t have as much privilege as them can be very happy and grateful for what they have been given. The people of Rwanda seem to have something most Americans don’t have: the ability to see that life means more than just material possessions and financial stability. The Agahozo-Shalom students were even eager to tell our group “God bless you” after the church service, showing their complete humility and compassion for all human beings.

– Written by Miki and Jeremy

Shabbat in Rwanda

Our Shabbat morning started out as a very rainy morning. We woke up and met at 5:30 AM to do “Muchaka Muchaka” with the students. This is a weekly tradition, best translated as the village’s Saturday morning run – where the student gather at the lowest point of the village and jog while chanting up all the way to the top of the hill where the school is. Sadly, due do the rain, it was cancelled so we returned to our rooms to await farming with the students later.

While Aghahozo-Shalom provides so much for its’ students, they also want to teach self-sufficiency and responsibility. One of the many ways that the village does this is by requiring all of the students to work on the village’s communal farm each Saturday. Each family is responsible for a different crop – building yet another sense of community and responsibility among the students. Much to our disappointment, the students do not farm in the rain. However, the village staff generously offered to lead a group of UW students to farm – despite the rain. The students spent the morning with the staff and local farmers weeding and picking cucumbers (which surprisingly have thorns) and green peppers.

To distract us from the rain, Miki taught us how to make origami paper cranes so that we could make one for each student in the village, a total of 375. She explained to us that cranes are a symbol of peace, and we decided that it was a very appropriate symbol to leave here in Rwanda.

Despite the rain, we wanted to still spend time with our families, so many of us went to visit and spend time with them in our last days at ASYV. A group of us, including Miki, wanted to share our new crane-making skills will our families. Little did we know that Miki had prepared a beautiful explanation of the origami for the students. She explained that she was from Japan, and that origami was a Japanese art form. She then explained that she reason she wanted to share this art with the village was because – as she pulled out a newspaper with the front page describing the destruction of last week’s events in Japan – her country was suffering and she wanted the students’ help in prayer for peace and repair. The students asked many questions about those who had been lost, hurt, and injured, and wanted to assure that Miki’s family and friends were okay. One of the students pulled out a globe and we began a discussion of where we all lived in the world. While the entire week has been incredible, it was surely one of the most meaningful moments of the week.

In the afternoon, we had a learning session on the positive and negative aspects of short-term service projects. We discussed how groups can best balance the positives and negatives of volunteer trips, such as the one we are currently on. A sensitive topic, students shared many of their past experiences on volunteer trips and compared this trip to others. This was one of our most productive and insightful group discussions thus far as we reflected on and critically evaluated our own experiences. We all can feel that our group, and this trip, is special – but we had yet to dig for the reasons behind it.

We ended Shabbat with a Havdalah service, and then spent the evening with the village. Each Saturday night, the students gather in the dining hall to watch a movie projected onto the wall. We finished the day with our nightly tradition of Thorns and Roses. It was clear that the group is beginning to feel the effects of the trip coming to a close, and we have begun to realize that we will be leaving here too soon.

-Roz, Sarah, and Becca

The Best Day Ever

March 18, 2011
Today we woke up at 6:30 am after a hard day we were awakened with a newfound cause to keep on our mind while we worked. David and I (Sarah) did Kavannah, and the two words we chose for the day were perception and realization. The reason perception was chosen was because today was our last day of service and David thought it was important that we realize how our perception of the village and Rwanda has changed since our time here. Some of us were having a hard time finding words to express how we felt after visiting Murambi. The realization of the reality and extent to which the Genocide happened tormented us throughout the night. We thought it was important for the group to be able to ‘realize’ the truth and savagely cruel things we have confronted. We need to open our eyes to the true state of Rwanda and where it is projected to be going.
Realization is looking back at everything we saw at Murambi, the day before, and deciding to make sure it never happens again.

Today was one of the most exciting days of our trip. It was our last day of service working with the ASYV porters, so there were lots of things to do to ensure that our project would be complete before we leave. We cleared the table areas of bricks and stones, and helped pour and smoothen concrete to make the tabletops. While some of us did service, others took on other tasks.

Cory and Naomi went to the music room to tune all of the guitars, and Naomi left her tuner with the village so they can use it in the future. It was exciting to donate the tuner to the village, because music and art are such a huge part of the student’s lives.
Liz, Shira, Naomi, Roz, and Dana worked on the mosaic in the morning. The mosaic depicts a beautiful hill and a motion Wisconsin “W.” Once it dries, it will be placed in the sunken garden.

Since today was Friday we also had to do all the preparation for Shabbat. (the Sabbath) Five of us went to the kitchen to bake challah, where instead of using measuring cups and tablespoons the volunteers used their hands and minds to guess the sufficient quantities of ingredients.

Once we finished our service, the group spent some time talking with the porters. After a while, we found some sticks and rocks and an impromptu baseball game broke out. The game was a nice way to wrap up a great week of service. We created special bonds working alongside the porters and engineers through sharing our stories, cultures and experiences.

After we completed our daily service, we walked to the market in Rubona. The road to the market was buzzing with schoolchildren and residents who were excited to see us, and helped us practice our Kinyarwanda. When we arrived at the market, we walked into an incredibly lively scene. There were stores scattered all over the market, selling fruit, vegetables, drinks, pastries, sugarcane, clothes, shoes, cloth, soap, toys, bags, and many other accessories. We bought delicious pineapples, avocados, and peppers to eat at our Oneg Shabbat reception.

During our time at the market of Rubona, we were swarmed by children, and welcomed by stares that were beckoning for us to buy their goods. By the time we left people were just so excited to shake our hands and see us use our cameras, until it started raining.

When it rains in Rwanda, everything stops. The people that had stands of food took shelter in nearby stores and no one was in the streets. A couple of us followed the crowd under shelter, but then decided to brave the weather and walk back to the village. As we maneuvered around puddles and the slippery mud with our huge parcels of produce, we enjoyed the midst steaming up from the mountains and the school children screaming out to us from the nearby school.

By the time we got back, we were all drenched in water and still carrying bags (some of us UW ponchos) full of goodies. Unfortunately, our avocados did not ‘make it’ back in one piece from Rubona. We discovered this when we opened our bags and saw avocados smashed and all over our water bottles and sunglass cases, but that did not stop us from devouring them. Many of us gathered around scooping pieces from the bottom of the bag, while relishing the taste.

It kept raining for a while, which is weird for Rwanda because it usually starts and stops; so, we all gathered and recounted our thoughts about the international community and the Genocide. We were all still having a hard time forming words that could truly portray how we felt.

After lunch we had a couple of hours to transition from our exciting and life-changing week to get ready for Shabbat (Sabbath).
Naomi, Jordan, and I (Sarah) led the service, which was also joined by the long-term volunteers who seemed incredibly touched by the ceremony.
Welcoming Shabbat while looking at the sun setting over the rolling hills deeply touched all of us and was a highlight for many of us. After we enjoyed a yummy oneg with some classic Rwandan delights, which thankfully included avocadoes, we went to Village Time.

During Village Time, the community recounts the week, has some presentations, and explains what is the schedule for the next week. Our group was welcomed up to the stage to teach a Jewish song called Salaam, which means peace. We also shared our newfound knowledge of Kinyarwanda by singing the song Amaroho with an added English section. It was amazing to look at the village and hear them singing with us. We watched the smiles in the audience during the huge applause.

Although it seems we could not have had a better day, the day got even better. After dinner, we experienced our first Rwandan, high-school dance. Let’s just say it was a combination of Mad-ave and a Bar Mitzvah. The students at the village definitely ‘one-upped’ all of us with their dance moves.

The students were totally alive and helped us realize the importance of letting go and true freedom.

A couple of us have had a lot of experience with dance, but tonight was the first time we felt truly at one with the music.

-David & Sarah N.

Progression

Note: Due to the emotional impact this day had on us we wanted to give people time to gather their thoughts and put them into writing. We apologize for the delay.

March 18, we started off our day by introducing our kavanah, or intention. We decided that the word ‘progression.’ We chose this word to represent our day since even though we would be visiting the Murambi Genocide Memorial, we wanted to be able to leave appreciative of all of the progress Rwanda has made since 1994.
Our first stop of the day was in Butari, a city approximately 4 hours west of ASYV. We began our time there with a celebration of Rwandan life by visiting a traditional Rwandan arts shop in Butari. Crafts included masks, vases, drums, fabric paintings, baskets, basket weavings, jewelry, and other carvings. This opportunity gave us the chance to purchase a piece of Rwandan culture to bring home with us. Next we went to lunch at a restaurant with traditional Rwandan food. We stacked our plates as we helped ourselves to rice, fried potatoes and yams, fish, beef, pea soup, zucchini, avocado salad, and fresh pineapple. One fun fact that we learned today when ordering drinks is that in Rwanda, as in many other countries, they reuse and sterilize the glass bottles that Fanta and coke come in.
As we departed Butari we took a surprise detour to an ice cream shop created and run by a women’s co-op. Here they were serving two flavors of ice cream- coffee and passion fruit. Surprisingly the two were delicious together. The co-op was created by an American woman who wanted to give Rwandan women the chance to be involved with a business venture. Women in the co-op are involved in every part of the business, from milking the cows to selling the ice cream in the store front.
Leaving the ice cream shop, several of us began singing a traditional Kinyarwanda song which we had learned from students in the village. The lyrics were as follows:
Amahoro Nibyishimo Munezero
Behora Biti Umutimauanje
Meaning:
Peace Happiness Joy
Always in my heart
As we sang we were pleasantly surprised to hear the bus driver, Claude, join in. Despite our language barrier with him, we were still able to share this cultural experience.
While we continued our drive to Murambi we began to prepare for the memorial that we would soon be visiting. We had been warned that the memorial preserved 848 bodies of men, women, children, and babies in order to avoid the controversy of people denying the genocide, however we didn’t really know what to expect. When we arrived we immediately viewed images that left us feeling conflicted. While in front of us was a building that was meant to be a technical school opening in September of 1994, surrounding the school were the beautiful views that appeared to be very much alive.
When the genocide began many Tutsis fled to local churches because they believed they would be safe there since it was a place of worship. Each church was approached by a group of Hutus claiming that their goal was to protect the Tutsis in order to lure them to the vacant technical school. They believed they were protected and safe, especially due to the presence of French soldiers. By April 20, 1994, three weeks after the start of the genocide, 55,000 people had arrived at the school in search of refuge– this number does not include the children. By this time, the water and electricity had been cut off and the people inside were growing hungry and weak. At 4 am on April 21, 1994 the Hutus began massacring the Tutsis. The Hutus, who were planning on moving on to other local churches and did not have enough time to finish killing every person, threw live bodies into mass graves. In order to remember the more than 50,000 victims murdered, the Murambi Genocide Memorial was created.
Each of us had a different experience at the memorial. Some were hit so deeply by the presence of bodies that we could not enter the rooms. Those who entered emerged in tears. It is too difficult to describe what we saw and maybe, out of respect, it is better not to. Instead, some of us have offered to share some of our thoughts before, during, and after seeing the memorial.

One in a Thousand
Rwanda:
A land of a thousand hills. Hills that glisten in the sun; hills that are hidden by the deep midst of fog; hills alive with the soul of Rwanda.
But on one hill is Murimbi, a place that does not glisten; a place that is desolate; a place that fog cannot even cover us what was done there; a place that is dead with the souls of men, women, and children, while their bodies still rest uncovered.
These are the friends, parents, and siblings of the people of Rwanda.
The sister to the boy playing basketball with his friends, the mother to the girl gossiping at lunch, and the child that was never given a chance.
This is the broken heart of Rwanda.
The spirits of this hill are who we give honor and memory to today.
The twisted limbs and broken skulls will live in my mind forever alongside the vibrant culture that I have befriended in Rwanda.
Long live all Rwandans, may one day these bodies find a final resting place.
Among a unified heart of Rwanda.
– By: Sarah Neibart

This was supposed to be a place of life. Of learning, understanding, of a future. Instead it is a place of death. Of people forever paralyzed in time. We are about to enter the first room. I don’t know how this can be. Life does not make sense because death does not make sense.

Bent, misshapen, missing limbs
they lay
with faces contorted screaming in pain
wishing for life
for love
for compassion
Where does evil come from
and where does it go
They lay there not in peace but in pain and distress
A reminder that evil will always remain
A reminder of the lives they never had
the love they never gave
The rain sprinkles on us, the world around is gray
We continue on into the depths of grief
– Naomi Gamoran

Walking through the museum, I didn’t feel the intense rush of emotion that I expected to. While I stood amongst skeletons, I couldn’t focus on anything enough to formulate any strong emotions. When the strength of the museum hit me was at the end of the tour when we looked into a mass grave. After looking into an enormous pit in the ground where hundreds of genocide victims were buried, I raised my head six inches and saw maybe the most beautiful mountain I’ve ever seen. There were homes scattered throughout, with the sounds of cattle, chirping birds and innocent children giving the infecting the scene. The feel was incredibly pulsating and vibrant. Then, six inches back down, and I was staring into a mass grave again.
After nodding my head a couple of times, I became confused. In such a beautiful country, I couldn’t understand how such atrocities could be so committed while the rest of the world stood by and watched.
This trip has answered a lot of questions for me, but I don’t ever think I’ll ever understand how this genocide took place. I can learn the history and study the exhibits, but it will never make sense. It is scary because after spending time here and interacting with the people, you see that they are genuinely good. If genocide can happen here under the blind eye of the international community, I’m scared that it can happen anyway.
-David Riva

I’m angry. I’m angry at the genocaidaires who claimed the lives of Rwanda’s fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, and children too young to understand. Innocent victims whose twisted bodies, screaming in agony I witnessed at Murambi. Who were their murderers? Why did they kill? Did they feel sorry? Did they know what they were doing was wrong? These were their neighbors and their friends; they spoke the same languages and worshiped the same God. Where was God? I’m angry that I can’t understand. I’m angry at the world for standing silent. I’m angry at all those who told the Tutsis, ‘flee to Murambi!’ And they walked for miles and miles up steep hills and down winding valleys, past roadblocks, past other shelters, because Murambi would be safe. 55,000 took shelter in the vacant school. There are only 11 known survivors. I’m angry that I cant adequately put into words how angry I am. Never again, never again, never again. They’re just words. And I’m so, so, so angry that even though the world knows what happened in Murambi, what happened atop countless other hills in this land, what happened in Armenia, Poland, Cambodia, Bosnia, Darfur, the world has not learned its lesson. I don’t want to see any more skeletons like those I witnessed in Murambi. And I’m angry because I don’t know what to do about it.
-Allie Frankel

848 Nameless Rwandans
When I walked through the rooms of the dead, I felt emotionless. Room after room, step after step, I felt nothing.
Nothing…until our memorial service began.
A space that was Rwandan became Jewish. A space that was dominated by 848 anonymous bodies was overtaken by mourning friends. A space that was foreign became familiar.
At that moment, in my mind’s eye, I saw my youngest brother amongst the dead. Fear, frustration and sadness forced their way in.
Why did it happen at that moment? Why did it not happen when I saw the first, or last, of the 848 nameless faces?
It can only be because of their namelessness. It can only be because I cannot love 848 dead Rwandans whom I have never known in life. I can feel compassion for them, but I cannot love them. And it is because I cannot love them, or anyone else, living or dead, who remains anonymous to me, that I cannot promise “never again” to the entire world and truly mean it.
But I can love my brother, and I can love my family and friends. And to them I can promise “never again.” I can promise to never again take them for granted because 848 nameless Rwandans have shown me just how short-lived all of our lives can be.
-Adam Thal

To culminate our experiences at the memorial, we all came together to participate in a memorial service. We lit a candle in memory of the one million who were murdered during the genocide and stood in a circle as members of our group read interfaith prayers and passages commemorating those lives lost. Our tour guide joined our service, following along as we expressed our grief. At one point, our candle blew out. Before everyone had realized it, our guide left and came back with matches, relit the candle, and set up a barrier to block the wind from blowing it out again. This was an incredibly powerful moment. At the end of the service he asked to say a few words. He told us that when most people come to the memorial he didn’t know if they actually understand the magnitude of the genocide, but he could tell that “we got it”. He explained that we as Jews have a shared history and he knows that we will make sure that people know what happened. He left us wondering, what does it really mean when we say NEVER AGAIN?
Before we left, each of us took a moment to place a stone we had carried with us from Madison on top of a covered mass grave. Rather than placing flowers, which soon die, the stones, a Jewish tradition, will remain forever atop the graves.
As we drove out of the memorial site, our van was quickly greeted by at least 40 smiling local children. We were suddenly reminded of the word that we had chosen to represent our day, “progression.” Through some of us questioned our own abilities to have the strength to move on, we saw in the children, that life in Rwanda must move on and that the only direction for the country is progression.
Having come from such a difficult day, our bus ride back was solemn as people took time to process and reflect what we had seen. As we approached Kigali, we began to take what we had learned and turn it into thoughts of the future. We reached the ASYV Kigali apartment, and after a somewhat quiet dinner of delicious Indian food, we gathered together to speak about the day, what we had seen, and what the future would hold. Our discussion continued even after we had left the apartment, lasting right up until we finally arrived back at ASYV.
While this day was our hardest, we all felt empowered by the memorial to put extra effort into our interactions with the teens at ASYV, our service work, and ultimately, our devotion to contribute to the progression of Rwanda.
-Naomi, Jordan and Ali U.

Wednesday March 16th

Due to inconsistent internet access, our blog for Wednesday, March 16^th is just being posted today.  All is well and we are safe.

We began our day with our usual morning meeting where we discussed the importance of the word ‘reflect’, relating to how we are now halfway through our trip and also connecting it to our two learning sessions for the day. It was important to remind ourselves to not only experience what was occurring at the village, but to reflect on it as well in order to created a stronger meaning and bond with the individuals, and the village itself.

Then we went straight to the village center to continue with our service work. The progress there has been amazing. With the enormous help of the workers we can see real progress being made, and the base of the sinking garden is now complete, and the chess boards and seats are also taking shape. Our task of the day was to carry buckets of cement to the workers so they could continue work on the chairs. Many of us had lessons from the workers on how to carry the buckets on our heads, and by the end of the workday, many of us had mastered carrying it on our shoulders…maybe tomorrow it will be our head!

It is truly incredible to see the worker’s interest in speaking English with us and expanding their vocabulary, and the feeling are mutual as we switched English and kinyarwandan phrases including ‘mwaramutze’ (good morning) and ‘amakuru’  (how are you). Everyday our relationships and vocabulary with the workers grow. It is humbling for us to exhaustingly do the work they do all day long for a few hours and barely keep up.

After a few hours of grueling work we all went up to the school house to meet the headmaster, Wilton. Wilton openly discussed with us the difficulties of living in a post-genocide Rwanda. It was very important to hear his point of view because it was a brutally honest one, one that included his views on revenge for the death of family members, as well as educating us on important details as to the causes of the genocide. It was a moving hour. Wilton is a passionate and charismatic individual. Many of us felt that Wilton shared a view on the genocide that we had not yet heard.

Next we returned to the village center to continue our work.  We continued on our work in our attempt to achieve our final goal of creating a village center with a ‘sunken garden’ and Central Park style-chess tables. Although this task may sound achievable within a week, our group has been pushed to our physical limits in order to stay on track to finish in time. We started our project by digging four feet deep holes in very tough ground. Many of us needed the help of the workers to even get into the dirt. The next task was to fill all of the holes with large rocks that needed to be carried by us. After that we had to carry buckets of cement so that the rocks would stay in place. All this was done just to create the base for our tables and ‘sunken garden’.

The Mufti of Rwanda (Muslim leader of the country) was supposed to pay the village a visit for lunch, but was unfortunately unable to make it. After lunch we were fortunate enough to have our first significant break (an hour and a half), in which the group took clear advantage, some of us relaxing outside and journaling and others paying a visit to their families who they shared family time with the previous night.

At 4:30 the group divided up and went to the EP’s (Enrichment Programs), which included yoga, football (soccer), basketball, intense stretching, volleyball, and even handstand competitions, to name a few. It was really an incredible experience for just about all of us to be openly welcomed into the student’s daily activities and furthermore encouraged to participate.

Emily, along with a few other volunteers were expecting to go to soccer, but instead ended up in ‘intense stretching’. We ended up spending an hour going around the circle bending our bodies in ways none of us thought possible, as the village youth laughed at us. It was a very interesting experience in which we laughed through.

After EP’s, Emily, Niko, and Dana decided to stay and play football (soccer) with some of the students.  They welcomed us into their game, and didn’t by any means play easy on us! They ran circles around us—except for Dana. She was impressive and was called ‘Messi’ by the students on her team. Time flew by as we played around and enjoyed down time with the students after the game. The sky during this time was an amazing sight, as the sun pushed down behind the hills.

After the soccer game, a group of us stayed back and hung out with the kids. It was incredible- we spent an hour just hanging out talking, and taking more than our fair share of pictures. By the end, even some of the students at the village were taking pictures on our cameras for us! It was a great experience, and most of us felt accepted as friends of the students and not just the crazy mozungas (foreigners)!

We returned to our guest house to discuss our first learning lesson, revolving around the balance between giving time and giving money. We then went to dinner where we once again sat with the village youth and discussed an array of topics including everything from President Obama to Rihanna to sorority formals.

After dinner we once again returned to the guest housing where we began our second lesson of the evening in which we discussed Paul Singer’s article on potential solutions to poverty. Many students found his satirical approach discouraging to their volunteer efforts while other students appreciated his blatant and direct solutions.

After an exhausting day, we concluded with our evening ritual of roses and thorns. It was another absolutely incredible day at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, and everyone left anticipating another meaningful day tomorrow.

~Shout out to Erin Keating’s mom for wiring her money to Rwanda, I love you!~

Emily, Niko, Erin

In Rwanda I learn of peace.

Peace is within my soul as it slides up and down the

Slopes of the land of a thousand hills.

Life is content when I walk on red clay in between small

Houses with terracotta roofs, gazing in my brimmed hat

And through the black lenses of Ray Ban knockoffs.

So affected when I look at the world above, characterized

By cloud patterns, cities of change with different colonies

In each corner.

I cannot get enough of these clouds.

Niko Magallon

Tikkun Olam- Repair the World

With strong intentions to wake by 6am, in order to attend the morning meal, most UW students did not make it to breakfast. Sleeping in till 7am was crucial for self-care and revitalizing our energy. During the UW morning meeting, our student leaders of the day chose the word “embrace” for us keep in mind. Although we recognized that the day ahead would likely be tiresome, and long, we vowed to embrace each moment and to cherish the many roses that come along with a few thorns.

Our first scheduled activity was to meet for conversation with the village staff, which included housemothers and counselors (also known as big brothers and big sisters). We broke out into a number of smaller groups, each including housemothers and counselors from a variety of grade levels. Groups discussed many topics, related to ASYV and our University of Wisconsin. One group began with quick name introductions, and was followed by a question from a UW student. The housemother, the question was directed to, spoke in Kinyarwandan and a dialogue occurred amongst the housemothers. After what seemed like a fairly long time the mothers came to consensus and it was finally translated to us that the mothers preferred to hear us introduce ourselves in greater detail, and also share personal accounts of our collective experience as UW students. After nearly twenty minutes the mothers agreed that we had opened up to them and they would now share with us the answer to the question about family time in the ASYV houses that had been posed. All groups believed this session was vital to understanding how the village works because it is the housemothers who raise, love, and care for these students as they do their own children. Because the mothers are deeply invested in the future of each of their ASYV sons and daughters, many of them asked how we plan to bring back what we have learned from this experience to America and how we will help their children succeed. All members of our group agree that a main focus of bringing our experience back will be to find ways to provide resources and assistance for the future education and development of these amazing students.

After the discussion, we continued to work on our garden/student “hang-out” project for the village. Today’s mission was to transfer rocks to the area that will become the sunken garden in order to make a bench for the children to sit on. Carrying the stones proved to be difficult for us mzungus (foreigners). We were completely shown up by the strength of the local workers who could carry stones three times our size- many women from the village could carry up to four stones on top of their heads. After we moved all of the rocks needed, it was time to cement the bench and begin building the chess tables. The two tasks were extremely different yet both difficult and satisfying to complete. Cementing the bench required strength to carry the heavy buckets of cement to the sunken garden (we were yet again shown up by the workers who, with seemingly little effort, carry the 10 pound buckets of cement on their heads.) Building the tables required less strength, but complete accuracy and precision in making the rocks perfectly straight. With the bases of the tables complete, and an almost finished bench, the garden is beginning to look like a perfect place for the students to hang out.

Not only is ASYV an incredible institution because of the education it provides for the orphans of the genocide, but it also employs Rwandan workers in the nearby villages that would otherwise be unemployed. It is amazing to interact with these men and women. Talking is difficult because they speak little or no English, but with what minimal communication we can make we are able to add to our Kinyarwandan vocabulary. This volunteer work and interaction with the local workers became my (Dana) favorite part of the day. As we walked back and forth in our ant-like march of an assembly line filling the cement and dumping it off, I would also get my bucket of cement filled by the same man. Each time he would mutter long sentences of Kinyarwandan to me. Not knowing what he said, I would just smile and nod and say “Murikoze” (Thank you) as I walked away. All morning this interaction continued. Just before we stopped work for lunch he managed to find the English words he was saying in Kinyarwandan all day. He had been calling me “my friend”. Even though there was a tremendous language barrier we had managed to create a special, unforgettable relationship. It has been such a wonderful opportunity to meet the students and staff of ASYV, but also to work with the local people who have an inspirational work ethic and are so eager to engage with us.

In addition to our word of the day, embrace, we also spoke about the meaning of “Tikkun Olam” during the morning as a theme for our daily intention. Tikkun olam is the Hebrew phrase meaning “repair the world”. The second-year ASYV students are assined to different tikkun olam projects in which they participate each Tuesday, and our group was assigned to assist the students with their projects for two hours. The opportunities included working at a clinic, a local school, and helping with social work such as building huts and painting murals. Every member of our group got something uniquely different out of his/her tikkun olam project. Some of the girls assigned to social work had an incredible time making mud and building homes as well as dancing in the mud with little children who passed by. The experience of working in the school is one I (Liz) will never forget. It was possibly one of if not the most inspiring and eye-opening experiences of my life.

The ASYV students are assigned to different classrooms in the Rabona school located down the long dirt road from the village. I was assigned to the classroom with Joyce and Jiliet who were teaching ten and eleven year olds the alphabet. After walking into the classroom to whispers of “mzungus” from the Rabona school students, I was worried they would dislike having a foreigner in their classroom and hope I would sit in the corner to observe their lesson from afar. After the whispering subsided, however, the class requested to play a traditional Rwandan singing game to best welcome me. After holding hands, cheering, clapping, dancing and screaming with the students, they sat down to review their most recent lesson and prepare for a quiz. Joyce and Jiliet invited me to join in their teaching, and they asked me to help teach and assess the lesson on the alphabet, specifically reviewing consonants and vowels. After the lesson, I gave the students a quiz and graded each of the twenty-five students’ blue books with a red pen. I couldn’t believe I was teaching in Rabona, Rwanda- going over a lesson, grading quizzes, and writing comments that Jiliet helped translate from English to Kinyarwandan. After the quiz, they asked me to help them create their vocabulary list for the following week, which included words like ceiling, chalkboard, seat and desk. I was amazed, and I did not think the experience could be any more fulfilling, any more special. Once we left the classroom, however, Joyce and Jiliet grabbed me to follow them into a different room. Waiting inside were the other ASYV student volunteers, ASYV and Rabona school staff, and the other members of my group who were assigned to participate in Tikkun Olam at the school, too. The ASYV students were asked to sit down with pen and paper and reflect on their experiences- what did you learn, what did the students learn, what did you teach and how did it help. As an aspiring teacher, this was very moving; the ASYV students were not only participating in tikkun olam and practicing the teaching of others, but they were then reflecting on their experiences and finding ways to improve for the future. My experience at the school was incredible for many reasons, and I look forward to bringing back with me the energy and enthusiasm for education I saw in Rabona to my student-teaching in Madison and beyond.

After everyone returned from the projects, we had time to freshen up before our nightly debrief (“thorns and roses”) and dinner. We were fortunate to be joined by the producers of award-winning Sundance film “Kinyarawanda” because they traveled to ASYV from Kigali to show a private screening of the unreleased movie. To learn more about the film, please visit the website: http://www.kinyarwandamovie.com/- It is an inspirational movie about the genocide, with a theme of forgiveness and insight into the way religion played a role in saving thousands of people in 1994. After the film, the producers stayed for Q & A, which we feel very fortunate to have had. We learned about the role genocide plays in education and other aspects of present-day Rwandan culture.

There are few words to describe the impact this incredible day had on each member of our group, but with motivation, dedication, passion and a joy that we all share more than ever before, we look forward to the next activities our incredible trip brings.

-Dana, Melissa, & Liz

“If You Can See Far, You Can Go Far”

Today was our first full day at ASYV. We (Cory and Shira) are the student leaders of the day. The day started off with two words of the day. The word in Kinyarwandan was “Amakuru,” which means how are you, and our english word .” We both felt that since it was our first day at the village, it was a good day to fully absorb everything we see and fully engage ourselves in the new activities we were about to take part in.

Everyone woke up at around 6 AM to get to breakfast at 6:30. The dining hall was about a 10 minute walk away, in the center part of the village. Because of Rwanda’s many hills, many of us compared this trek to walking up Bascom to class. Breakfast consisted of a sweet roll and some very sweet tea. This was one of the first opportunities for our group to interact with the students. Although breakfast was relatively short, everyone was happily surprised at how much the students opened up and were genuinely excited to talk to us and know about our lives back at home.

After breakfast, we came back to our visitor house and met with Ilan, the interim director of the village. He offered some additional thoughts on the functioning and the goals of ASYV and gave a really unique perspective of the genocide as it compared to the Holocaust. After we spoke with Ilan, we went on a small tour of the village, and ended up in a beautiful amphitheater. The theater, which was help built by previous volunteers, had a panted mural and a text in Kinyarwandan. The text translated to, ” that which feel in your heart can only come out through your mind.” Elain was one of the staff members that worked and helped plan ASYV from the beginning.

After speaking with Alain, we went to a mango tree where Anne Heyman concluded the purchase of the land to make ASYV a reality. After some time to ask more questions about the village, we went back to our house and broke out into two smaller groups and had a learning session. We talked about whether or not it is our responsibility to help people, and the conversation was very stimulating.

After the break out session, we got on our work gloves and prepared to start our service work. We met with Ido and Trevor, long-term volunteers at the village, and they explained to us our project. On the village currently there isn’t an open area for the students to really hang out and “for teenagers to be teenagers.” Near a hut we are building 7 chess tables to have outside, and then a sunken garden which has seating and allows for them to have a place to hang out.

Starting to dig was hard work. We all got really sunburned, and realized how hard the workers on the village work to make it as beautiful as it is. The construction workers came and helped us, and really showed us up. Even when we thought we were doing a good job, it was nothing compared to their work. After two hours of digging we went to see the school at the top of the village with Rachel. Rachel was explaining to us how the village was built in three sections: mind, body and spirit. The highest elevation houses the educational building which is a constant reminder that education is the most important value help by ASYV. The body of the village is the sports field and dining hall, and the spirit consists of the residential housing where students are free to let their spirits go and open up about themselves where they can be heard. Also, Rachel shared with us that all of the windows and doors are reflective, which allows for everyone to have a view of the scenery at all angles wherever they are on the village. These small details showed us how much planning and time went into making the village as great as it is today.

At lunch time many of us had rice, beans, pineapple, cucumbers, potatoes, and beans. The food was good, and the conversation was even better. At this time, all of the students are done with school, and then go to an EP, enrichment program. All of us divided into different EP’s such as traditional art, guitar, music, art, cooking, sewing, recording, piano, and farming. Jordan, who was supposed to go to cooking, ended up at the wrong room and worked with the kitchen staff cleaning the floors, and chopping eggplants. Later, however, she made it to cooking for the last 10 minutes.

After the EPs, we sorted our in-kind donations and got ready for dinner and Family Time. While cleaning up, our power went out which was quite a shock, especially for those showering. We have a room full of usable donations which is really exciting and great to see. Ilana and Rachel assigned us all to different family’s to go to during family time. Every night the houses, which consists of 16 students and a house-mother and a big brother/sister, meet to discuss and debate issues and happenings in the village.

I (Cory) had a particularly heart-warming experience, as each of the kids felt extremely comfortable opening up to me about their experiences here at ASYV. They then engaged in a conversation (completely translated for me by one of my new “brothers”) regarding ways in which they can improve their punctuality to class. Led by the house-mother, the boys discussed ways in which they can expedite and further organize their meal-time process, to eat and clear their plates by the end of the alloted time frame. Finally,the family asked me and Niko many intellectual (and many political) questions regarding the United States. Finally, all of us embraced each other in a circle, and engaged in a concluding prayer of giving thanks. These children are truly remarkable. They are more responsible, well-mannered, and self-motivated than most Americans I know at their age. Most of all, however, they fill me and the rest of the group with happiness constantly.

An unforgettable experience I (Liz) had was during my seven minute walk from dinner to Family Time. A girl in the Buto family to which I was assigned greeted me at the end of dinner and said she would show me the way to her home. She told me she recognized me from breakfast and was so happy to have me join her, her sisters and house-mother for her favorite time of the day. As we left the dining room, I noticed she (Eme) was carrying a large mango. I asked if she had found that mango and was bringing it back with her as a treat, but she quicky told me it was given to her as it is every night. Before I could even ask why, Eme explained to me that she has to have a mango to eat when she takes her medication. She told me she has to take medicine the moment the sun comes up before she starts to have terrible flashbacks. Eme is one of the children in the village who is given medication for severe memory relapse. She told me she wakes up in the morning and the first thing she thinks about is being alone without a mother, father, uncle, aunt, sister or brother because they were all killed in the genocide. She continued by telling me that her horrific and heart-wrenching flashbacks have gotten so much better since she began ASYV three years ago, which I was relieved to hear as it helped me hold my tears back with a strength I did not know I had. Eme told me that her acceptance to ASYV was the best day of her life, and every day she wakes up and tells herself to be strong because she is now in a wonderful place with an incredible family. The will and the energy of the students here are just like that of Eme: incredibly inspiring, undoubtedly unique, and an impactful force I will hold in my heart forever.

We concluded our incredible day with Roses and Thorns. We’re off to sleep before an early wake up in the morning!

 

– Cory & Shira

And so it begins…

So here we are! After a three hour bus ride to Chicago, four hour wait in the airport, seven hour plane to Brussels and another 8 hour flight to Kigali we have FINALLY arrived in Rwanda!

Our first full day in Rwanda was incredible but exhausting. We had arrived at night, so our first glimpse of the “Land of A Thousand Hills” came at 6 am when the call of some neighboring roosters jostled us all out of bed. As angry as we were to be deprived of extra sleep, we were instantly stunned by the view: rolling hills, a perfectly blue sky and green as far as the eye could see. Fighting off jet lag, our group had our morning meeting and first kavvanah, during which our leaders chose a “word for the day” to keep in the back of our minds as we proceeded through the days activities. In honor of our pending visit to the genocide memorial museum in Kigali, our word was ‘rebirth.’ We hoped to focus on balancing the importance of coming to terms with the past with our instinct to look forward towards a brighter future.

There is no way to sufficiently put into words what we all felt at the genocide memorial museum. Built on top of a mass grave where some 200,000 Rwandans are buried, the museum depicts Rwandan society before, during and after the genocide that claimed over 800,000 lives. Images of Rwandan victims are accompanied by videos of survivors telling their own stories and texts giving the observer essential background information. Beyond describing the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide itself, the memorial exhibits displays of other genocides that have occurred in the past century. This called our attention to the fact that the plight of Rwandans is not unique. Genocide can happen anywhere and at any time. The museums message is a mix of optimism and cynicism, hope and despair. One quotation that resonated with us as Americans read, “After the Holocaust, when they said never again, did they mean it for some people but not for others?”

While the memorial as a whole was fascinating in terms of the wealth of information provided, and deeply disturbing in its content, the final section proved to be the most emotionally powerful. The exhibit featured photographs of Rwandan children who were murdered during the genocide. Beneath each photo was a description of the child, including their name, favorite food, favorite activities, and their last words before they were killed. One child stated, “UNAMIR [the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda during the genocide] will save me.” Another shouted, “Where should I run?” The focus on children resonated with our group in particular because we will be spending the rest of our time in Rwanda volunteering with orphaned children who survived the genocide. After finishing our tour of the museum we preformed a memorial service in front of the mass grave. Chanting the mourner’s kaddish as a group, I think we all felt a sincere connection to one another, as well as the victims of the genocide buried beneath us.

Our visit to the genocide museum understandably affected our group’s mood for the remainder of the day, but we were determined to make the most of our remaining time in Kigali before venturing to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV).

After leaving the museum, we had the great fortune of being invited to the official residence of the United States’ Ambassador to Rwanda, Mr. W. Stuart Symington. His house was quite remarkable; an American oasis in the heart of Kigali. Upon arrival, we were assured by Ambassador Symington that because we were all tax paying Americans, or at least soon-to-be tax paying Americans, his home was quite literally ours to enjoy. We took advantage of the rare opportunity to ask questions of such a high ranking official. Our discussion ranged from the United States’ record on human rights intervention to the roll our country is playing in Rwanda’s rebirth since the genocide. Before leaving, we presented the Ambassador and his wife with two Bucky t-shirts and a Wisconsin  “W” plaque to show all his future visitors that Badger pride knows no boundaries!

After waiting out our first Rwandan thunderstorm, we all crowded into our bus and finally started on our way to ASYV. After such a long day, few of us were awake a few minutes into the hour long journey. We arrived after nightfall, tired but overwhelmingly excited to have finally reach our destination! Tomorrow, when the sun rises, we will finally be able to gaze out on the beautiful landscape that we have only seen thus far in pictures. Stay tuned to find out how our jam-packed first day went. We certainly can’t wait!

 

-Allie and Adam