We’ve moved the Liquidnet group blog to a new site that allows comments. Thank you for following these dispatches from the various Liquidnet teams that visit the ASYV in Rwanda, and we look forward to hearing from you on the new blog:
From Mary: Looking back, looking ahead
It’s 7:30AM in Brussels (same time zone as Rwanda-6 hrs ahead of Eastern time). So far, we’ve been traveling for 15 hours since leaving the village and have a 4 hour layover followed by an 8 hour flight to JFK. We’re all sitting in the airport with laptops and blackberrys fired up…what DID we do before technology?! We’ve begun processing thru all we experienced at the Village…with the kids, the staff, each other. One thing I know is that the impact to them and to us was meaningful, and while I’m not sure how this experience will unfold in each of our lives over time, I know that it will—in both small and important ways.
I expected a lot from our time at ASYV, but some things were really special and worth mentioning. I’ve always had so much respect for both Steve and Jeff but seeing their hard work and the depth of their generosity and caring for others took my admiration to a new level. Anne and Amanda, whom I knew only to say a casual “hi,” are quality people that I’d be proud to call friends; they are both smart, capable, strong and deeply committed. Seeing the village’s success and hearing about the numerous challenges getting there, makes me say that Anne Heyman-Merrin is capable of moving mountains. She calls the kids “her children”—all 125 of them—and is deeply moved by their stories and their every win. I hope one day I will build a legacy like hers—something that has really made a difference for people—that inspired, that gave hope.
We were all moved by the Directors of the Village (Nir, Alain, Sylvia, Jean-Pierre, Shimon, Eugenie, Wilton)—their commitment, their willingness to learn, to grow, to participate and be so open to 4 strangers coming in to teach them (with the entire leadership conference done in English—a second language to all 7 of them). Nir, the Head of the Village, deserves special mention. He is a strong-minded, passionate and capable Israeli. I wasn’t sure after day 1 if we’d reach him, if we’d give him the value he was looking for. But by day 2, what we started to see was someone that was introspective, that was willing to do the hard work, that was seeking out constructive feedback and was entirely open to change, to growing—for the benefit of himself and others. All the Directors realized that, any good work they did, any learning they acquired, would be for the betterment of ASYV, and would directly impact the kids and, at the end of the day, that’s what matters, that’s what every one of us cares so deeply about—-the kids—their happiness and their future…that they will all lead lives that are meaningful and rich and that will align with each of their individual talents and purpose. This is good for the world.
And so, my blogging, comes to a close with one final note…thru this entire journey with all its learning and up and down moments, we found time to have fun and laugh a lot. And for that, too, I am very grateful.
From Steve: I know what hope looks like
I’m writing this on the plane from Brussels to JFK … the last leg of the trip (I’ll post it when I get home). The four of us have been doing a lot of reminiscing today about some of the most touching moments and some of our funniest moments. This was a great group to travel with. We all share a common work ethic … and each have a great sense of humor. The ASYV was built to deal with one of the worst atrocities that I can imagine and it’s doing a wonderful job. There are lots of smiles, plenty of laughing, and a real sense that there is hope for every student that is part of the village. Our ability to laugh with one another helped to keep our spirits light throughout the entire trip.
The purpose of our trip was to work with the Directors of the Village and give them some management and leadership training. In doing so we were able to connect with them in a way that, I think, showed them that while it’s “all about the kids” there is NO way that it could be happening without all their hard work. I think some of them were thinking that this was some kind of punishment for not having achieved more thus far. I used the analogy several times of climbing a mountain. They’ve come SO FAR in such a short time that it was important to look back at what they’ve achieved as well as look ahead to strategize on what they’re going to need in the future. This was about helping an already successful team become more successful. There is no one that thinks it’s going to be easy but the combination of strategic planning along with taking some time to “stop and smell the roses” seemed to make for a very successful visit.
During our final day we met with the entire village staff. We started in a conference room just off the Dining Hall with Jeff explaining what we had been doing and what we wanted to do with the group for the next hour. The plan was to take time to look back at our successes as a team. We split into several groups with someone from our team facilitating along with a translator. One of the people in my group was Hiram, the kitchen manager. He was pretty quiet and doesn’t speak much English. I encouraged him to share what he thinks has been just one of the big successes of this past year. He thought for a moment and then, in Kinyarwandan, said that the fact that the kids get 3 solid meals that come out on time every day and that there have been NO problems with anyone getting sick from food is a big success. Everyone loved his answer. The village is literally nourishing these kids in both body AND soul.
Saying goodbye was tough … but I’m looking forward to getting home. I have a better sense as to how challenging it’s going to be for the Village over the next 3-4 months … but I’m very excited for them. The place is literally brimming with life. The kids are so lively, the farm is springing to life, new infrastructure is being built, grass is being planted … it will continue to be an amazing place. I got email addresses from a few of the kids that I had connected with. Many of the counselors and Directors asked for our email addesses so that they can keep in touch with us too.
In five hours I’ll be back in a land where we have SO MUCH of everything. It’s truly kind of hard to believe that both places exist on the same planet. I cannot wait to hug my kids, play with the dog, and take a HOT shower. This experience will never leave me and I hope to get back there to see how much further success they’ve achieved. Murakoze (thank you) to everyone involved in the ASYV … it is truly helping to “heal the world”.
From Jeff: An Amazing Experience
This week has been an amazing experience. Next to my wedding and the birth of my kids this the most heartfelt week I’ve ever had. The last few days were just as busy and packed minute-by-minute. Sunday, the Liquidnet team took the day to explore the country side. This helped us to decompress- we so needed to. We had listened to many heartfelt emotional stories that always included the most horrific details and ended with what can only be described as moments of true inspiration and pure love. Not only the kids, but the house mothers, counselors and the staff are all victims of the genocide. What an American (western) perspective I know. They would never categorize themselves as victims. When they describe what happened they tell it as if it they have totally moved on from just another event that happened in their lives. Although they still have some very powerful visions and memories of the events. They see themselves as fortunate to be given a chance to experience the Agohozo Shalom Youth Village. I’ve started to understand what in the beginning was unfathomable. As we traveled through the various towns I began to see a pattern- even the most fortunate family’s still lived in mud houses (that wash away sometimes during rainy season). Most of these homes have no running water. To hear the kids talk about going on vacation (starting in a few weeks) is inspirational. They all get that when they go to their home towns they will be the ones that people are envious of. Some are actually concerned that some of their friends and families will be upset with them because they get three meals a day, while they are lucky to have one meal a day. Imagine that feeling guilty because you have rice, beans and potatoes basically everyday… More amazing that some cannot return home for fear that someone may “finish the job”, meaning there are others still looking to murder them. Even though the genocide is officially over there are still many disturbed individuals… All are truly optimistic and excited about the future! When we visited the school one boy actually said he couldn’t wait for exam week, so he could share what he had learned. Imagine that, a teenager excited to take exams. They talk about being great people in society, whether that is someone that can make change in society through the political landscape, being a successful business person, being an accomplished rap-artist (yes, there are a few who are really good right now), the best farmer in the world or someone that raises a healthy loving family, they all have excitement for the future! This place is truly amazing!!
Monday and Tuesday were packed. Every minute was filled with something. We worked with the House Mothers, Counselors and even ran a workshop for the entire staff at the weekly staff meeting. I particularly loved the faith they had in us. With little or no warning they would ask us to do things (like run the staff meeting). They were interested to see us operate. At times I think they saw us as people that could do anything. It was humbling. As we completed the staff meeting which of course ended in tears of thanks, gratitude and love from everyone (us to them and them to us), we took a group photo which was so much fun! We all went outside in the beautiful air and stood in front of the amazing backdrop of the community center mural. As we completed the first few pictures, Steve shared a Liquidnet tradition. A tradition that Rowley Aird started- Taking a group photo all in the infamous “Tiger” pose (hands up like you are about to scratch someone- also a BIG growl). It was so much fun and an amazing way to complete our time.
I definitely take home with me their faces (scars- both physical and emotional) which are etched in my mind, their stories of horror which are unforgettable, and their true feelings of hope & optimism. These kids are full of life; this place is full of life…
The hugs & emotion were all real. I can’t thank them enough for allowing us into their lives! This trip has changed my perspective on the world. It’s amazing; when you put people who have been through a trauma in the right environment you really can “dry your tears (Agohozo) and heal the world (Tikun Olam)”.
I need to thank many people. All the wonderful people at Agohozo Shalom Youth Village that welcomed us, Nir Lahav (and his entire family) for being probably the most caring individual (and selfless) person on the planet, Anne Heyman for taking action half-way across the world when everyone else was still turning the other way (most at risk in Rwanda are teenagers who no one want to care for), Seth Merrin and all of Liquidnet for allowing us to take a few days away from business to contribute to society (even if in a small way), the wonderful people who were my guiding light throughout the 10 days/journey- I can’t thank Steve Greenblatt, Mary Corradino and Amanda Greenblatt for their love and support during our journey. They always knew how to make me laugh and pick me up when I needed it most. Lastly, I have to thank my family for their love. Although Brynn and Ryder may not truly understand what we were doing, they know that daddy is not around (for them this is not easy) and to Nicole (my wife) for taking on all the responsibility of our lives while I am away (not an easy task either). Her support of me going on this trip is truly amazing- she understands how important making a difference in this world is to me (and her). If her staying home to take care of our lives was what it would take for us to do this- she was committed. Her love of me and for making a difference in the world is astonishing!
from Amanda: Winding down our journey
Greetings from Brussels. We are en route to JFK after a terrific last day at the village. Steve and I started the day with a jolt of VIA in our house, then headed up to breakfast just in time to see the kids make there way up the hill to school. Tuesday was their first day of final exams - two a day thru next Tuesday. Most of the kids said they were prepared and some were even excited for them….what a different perspective when you are being “given hope” wrapped up in an education and a new family.
I knew I was off to a rocky start when my eyes filled up with tears while still at breakfast…leaving was going to be tough! We then spent the morning doing some training with the house mothers and then the counselors which took us until noon. If you want a real laugh, ask Steve to show you the video of Jeff explaining what Liquidnet does to the Rwandan house moms, ending with “And THAT’s Liquidnet”.
Steve and I headed up to lunch and said our goodbyes to the kids - we took a bunch of pictures and exchanged email addresses with them (each house now has a computer). Then we all led one final staff meeting - which included everyone who is on staff at the village, from the cook to security up through the directors. We did a group exercise reviewing and celebrating the successes they’ve acheived throughout the last year which was so rewarding to do with the full group.
I’m not sure I have expressed this before, but one of the most gratifying side-successes of the ASYV is the healing it’s giving to all the employees as well. As Salomon (who started off as a day laborer in the garden a few months ago and is now in charge of the farm) put it, ”Before the village, I had no job. Now I have more than a job; I have a future”. Well, if that doesn’t just move you to tears…. by the way, Nir’s 11 year old son, Elan, has been giving Salomon computer lessons too….what a difference the ASYV has made for Salomon!
Many of the staff shared their stories with me too - including the security guard who started in July - the ASYV is his family now. Too many stories to post, but each one of them remind me how the ASYV is truly restoring the rhythm of life.
And then we were off to the airport, via the market in Kigali to buy a few gifts. That was a scene: we pulled up, 6 of us in a pick up truck (don’t tell the kids I was double buckeled with Anne in the front seat), with all our luggage in the back of the pickup. About 7 boys surrounded the truck and in the end Shimone stayed to watch the bags (and paid the boys to help out)….we were a little nervous but everything was fine.
Another quick story - we were going thru customs at the airport in Kigali and after saying hello to the guard in Kinyarwandan he started to ask me about my stay. I told him (in English!) that “I was working at the Agahozo-Shalom…” and before I finished he said “Youth Village; yes, I know about it. Thank you so much for spending time with us, helping us”. How wonderful was that!
So, one final note as we are half-way between Rwanda and home, here in the Brussels airport. I had an incredible week - training with Jeff, Mary and Steve was such a meaningful way to spend our time at the village. When we put together the mission for the Liquidnet Family, we focused on being able to use our time and talents to better the village - and I was happy to use my prior experience in a way that will, hopefully, continue to motivate the entire staff. We made a great team - with Jeff as leader. We worked MANY hours - sleeping less than 5 hours a night; we were moved to tears daily; and we also laughed really hard together. I’m so thankful to have been a part of this experience.
I’m so excited to hug my kids.
From Steve: I LOVE You … I HATE You!
It’s Monday afternoon in the village and I’m finding myself with a few minutes of downtime … so time to blog. Today has been a really great day. Amanda and I headed out early to have breakfast with the kids. I was hoping to get up a little early to have time to heat some water for a shower … but my alarm didn’t go off. I happened to wake up on my own but didn’t have enough time to heat the water. So … it was back into the shower for another COLD shower (Note: Taking a hot shower is first on my list after hugging and kissing my family when I get home).
Breakfast was porridge again. Apparently it is made out of corn and it has the consistency of Cream of Wheat. There were rolls as well which are baked at the ASYV bakery (tomorrow we should have fresh rolls tomorrow as the bakery bakes on Tuesdays and Fridays. It’s pretty cool to watch the kids heading up to school in the morning. It’s an uphill walk so they’ll all get to say that they had to walk uphill to get to school every morning!
After breakfast we came back and Nir (the Director of the Village) took us on our “official” tour. This place is truly incredible. We saw the water treatment facility (where they take all wastewater and filter it so that it can be used for irrigation on the farm). Because of their irrigation abilities they’ll be able to harvest crops 4 times per year rather than 3 which is more typical in Rwanda. They’re growing a lot of different crops including: Mangoes, passion fruit, beans, oranges, grapefruit, cucumbers, coffee, squash, clementines, guava, and probably some more that I can’t remember. It took about 2 hours to tour the entire village. There are plans for several “beautification” projects that will make this village even more stunning than it already is. We’re going to have to spend some serious time going through all our photos to pick just a few of the great images of this place.
We ended the tour at the Liquidnet Family High School at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village and got to see the school in action. Wilton (the Director of Formal Education and the principal of the school) met us to start the tour. The pictures will do the place justice … but it’s really a beautiful place to study and learn. Today is the last day of classes before exams start. It was mostly a review day for the classes. We sat in on an English class where they were working on oral presentations. We heard one of the students tell the class about the life of Gandhi (which is also the name of one of the classrooms). He was followed by a group of about 6 students that put on a skit that they had written. It started out as some kind of “love triangle” but then became more of a “love square” and I think it ended as a “love pentagon”. It was really pretty funny watching the kids interact with each other. The dialog was pretty limited but included a lot of one person saying, “I LOVE you” and hearing “I HATE you” in response. It ended with one girl pulling a gun on another girl and shooting her. Amanda, Jeff, and I were pretty blown away by the violence in the classroom … what they heck?!?! It was a great “show” and the kids were clearly proud of their production.
We left the school and met Bosco for a ride to the Tunga market. What a difference from the ASYV. Tunga is an open air market where people sell whatever they’ve got. There were a lot of people selling salt, cassava flour, sardines, clothes, shoes, fabric, tomatoes, etc. The first stall we saw had a person selling “hardware”. The person was selling nails, a few strips of rope (literally just strips), and just a few other items. I learned a few KinyaRwandan phrases and used them as much as possible (hello, how are you, thank you). By FAR, the best part of the market was how the kids responded to all of us. When we first arrived it felt like EVERYONE was looking at us (because they were actually) … but the kids began to follow us around intrigued by the Mizungas (white people). I showed them my camera and motioned that I wanted to take a photo. From that point on I was probably the most popular white guy in the market (sorry Jeff). Most of the kids LOVED getting their pictures taken and then being shown their images on the display. Their smiles were AMAZING. Jeff had his Flip video camera and showed the kids their image in movie form. Truly incredible. Many of the older women ran away when I asked if I could take their picture. According to Bosco many of them thought that we were going to sell the pictures somewhere and they didn’t want that to happen. As we pulled out of the market a group of about 5 kids ran next to our van waving and calling out to us. We had given a few of them water bottles (mostly empty … some totally empty) and they treated them like a treasure. There’s a value to EVERYTHING here in Africa!
We came back in time for lunch … rice, cooked bananas, some kind of green vegetable (like spinach), and a sweet banana for dessert. We sat with a few of the guys that work at ASYV. One guy filled his plate so high that Amanda whispered, “there’s no way he’ll all that.” It was a good thing that she didn’t bet him.
That leads us to now. From 2-5 was supposed to be “free time” but we ended up meeting with Wilton, Sylvia, and Shimon as they each wanted some additional time with some or all of us. Tonight we’re meeting with Nir from 5-7 and then he has invited us to his house for dinner. He said that we’ll probably have salad, so the current debate amongst the group is whether we think we should eat it.
We’re getting packed up as we leave tomorrow afternoon. It feels like we’ve been here for a LONG time … but it also feels like it has flown by. Amazing!
Check out the pictures that Amanda has been posting. She has her iPhone which connects whenever we’re near enough to an Internet connection.
Amanda: Sunday in Rwanda
I think I want to start off every blog post with, “Today was wonderful”….and it’s true! But today was different for us then the others - almost like a “day off”. After another night of just 4 hours of sleep we woke extra early today to leave by 6am to get to Akagera National Park.
The drive there was amazing in itself - people are up EARLY in Rwanda - and out walking. Our guess today was that many people we saw were walking to get to church, but honestly, I think there are people walking to get their water, their food, or what it is that they do to exist for the day. We had a discussion about what it really means to be a 3rd world country.
Then we arrived at Akagera. The safari was so cool - we got up close to giraffe, cape buffalo, monkeys, baboons (yes, I know I spelled it wrong in my photo caption), crocs, a huge variety of birds, warthogs, impalas, oribi, uriba….it was so cool! We also had a lovely lunch at the hotel in the park which overlooks Lake Ihema - Tanzania is just across the lake. Fortunately both Steve and Jeff each brought a LeatherMan. Mary and I felt oh so safe while in a boat just feet away from the biggest crocodile EVER seen (well, by us).
We came home and Steve, Jeff and I took a little walk around ASYV. We saw the farm, the sun set over the village, and got to take in the beauty, again, of the ASYV.
Then I showered - using heated water from the hot pot. Perspective is everything - at home this shower still would have been miserable; here, it was fabulous. I felt refreshed.
At dinner we sat with Innocent, one of the counselors, and Jean Claude, one of the grade-coordinators at the school. We got a first hand account of the genocide from Innocent, who was 14 at the time…it is through these discussions that we spend time reflecting about what this country is still dealing with on a daily basis. As Innocent said to us, it’s only been 15 years - the people who perpetrated these atrocities are still around; the country is far from being over it. But here at Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, they are well on their way.
Again, another wonderful day. I wonder what will move us tomorrow!
