July 2008
28 posts
From Susanne: Taking Time To Exhale
I met a man on our bus who has been spending the past 4 summers in Rwanda for two week stretches with his wife. His wife is a midwife who travels into remote villages trying to teach the skill of midwifery and improve the infant mortality rate. He is working on an ecology project and has just planted a grove of the first ever pomegranate trees in Rwanda in hopes of improving the economy. He...
From Elton: The Agahozo Shalom Youth Village
A highlight of the trip was being able to visit the ASYV. Here we got see where the kids will live, learn, and build their lives. It was utterly inspiring and a stark contrast to the grim, depressing, and necessary experience of visiting the genocide memorials and mass graves. At the ASYV there is a genuine sense of hope and positivity. There is genuine progress being made on the site. A work crew...
From Elton: Men in Pink
Driving around the country side in Rwanda you frequently come across scores of men dressed in pink outfits. You see them everywhere. They’re typically working in the fields. My first thought was this was an interesting fashion statement or that someone had mixed colors with whites in the great Rwandan washing machine. It turns out that these men are in fact prisoners. Prisoners from the genocide....
From Nicole: Reminiscing on Rwanda
Back in the US, the sights and sounds of Rwanda now seem so far away. On the 20 hour trip back, I had some time to make conclusions on the trip.
- Rwanda and its people have so much potential. The government is poised to support the nation’s growth plan (20-20 vision). There’s economic growth and a rising level of education among its citizens. It’s a strong foundation for what the village...
From Anu: Our last day in Rwanda
On Friday, our last day here, we went to the Kigali Genocide Museum. The museum provides a global perspective of Genocides - Holocaust, Armenia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda. The museum has around 250,000 Rwandans resting in peace. These bodies were discovered all over Rwanda and brought to rest here. It is a world class museum that touches every heart – regardless of where you are from.
There was one...
From Nicole: Peaks and Valleys of Rwanda
Rwanda is truly the land of 1000 hills. Each hill is a village, complete with its own leader, main “street” and special characteristics.
Yesterday, the view from the top of one hill was breathtaking — and ironic, as perched on it was a genocide memorial site. The memorial was the actual site of the killing of 50,000 Rwandans in 1994. The Tutsi people had gathered at the school there, seeking...
From Chwen: visit to the ASYV
We spent Thursday morning visiting the ASYV. I was filled with anticipation on the bus ride to the village. Finally, here we were on our way to see the fruit of our labor. I was curious, too, about the progress of the construction.
During the bus ride, Anne, Sifa, Alaine, and Jean-Pierre spoke of the hope and expectations they had of the village. What was most powerful for me was to hear...
From Susanne: reflections while in Rwanda
Yesterday was a very moving day in terms of emotions. I hugged a man who lost his five children and wife during the genocide at a memorial for the victims. I saw poverty I only imagined in my worst night mares. Today however was the dawn of a new day-I visited ASYV. I saw before the hope of the country a shining jewel on the mountain viewing one woman’s dream that has become a reality for...
From Chwen: Our First Day in Rwanda
We spent a full day touring the southern parts of Rwanda. The bus ride was long and arduous; the visits to the various historical sites and museums short but insightful.
Rwanda is a country of green hills peppered with occasional huts/houses. Unlike other developing countries, its capital and country sides are litter free, making for one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve seen anywhere...
From Elton: we're going, going to kigali, gali...
OK, so we’re going to Rwanda… But right now we’re at the midway travel point to get there – it’s very early a.m. time in the Brussels Airport. Sporadic thoughts about the times ahead are as follows:
R is for Reality Check: I’m about to engage in first hand encounters with people who experienced and survived genocide in my lifetime.
W is for Wondering: Curiosity about the idiosyncrasies,...
From Susanne: Anticipations
WOW! This is such an awesome experience to be part of changing the world for children people and a country. I am so very excited to see the faces of Rwanda up close and personal. It is going to be an adventure. Rwanda here comes the Rwanderers! SB
From Nicole: Anticipations
Top Things I’m Looking Forward to:
- Meeting Rwandans and understanding their experience and the hope that the ASYV represents to them
- Touring the ASYV to see first hand the impact we have had…can have
- Taking photos to document the jourey for others to see
- Very glad to be here with this team!
From Susanne: upon arrival
We made it! We are here in Rwanda under the night sky which is filled with shinning stars. Rwanda is a busy bustling city, the streets are filled with people and bright lights glowing on fountains and store fronts. This truly is the land of a thousand hills and the steep streets created valleys and turns in our caravan to the hotel. It is so hard to comprehend where this country has been. ...
From Brian: And we're off
Liquidnet, the global institutional marketplace, is the primary corporate partner of the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a unique and ambitious project for orphans in Rwanda that will serve as a model for meeting the holistic needs of traumatized youth. The ASYV is the signature program of Liquidnet’s philanthropic initiatives, known as Global Social Engagement.
A group of employees...
