Welcome to Rwanda!

From First weeks at Agahozo Shalom

Muraho! Hello from Agahozo Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) in Rwanda! On Tuesday afternoon I arrived safely in Rwanda from St. Louis via New York, London, and Nairobi.

About an hour out of Kigali, Rwanda's capital city, we turned off the main road and on to a bumpy dirt one that wound through the hills. Jean Bosco, ASYV's driver, drove Andrew, Benna, Sarah, and me (together the Americans of the village) past homes hidden behind leafy green trees and children playing. Our new home, Agahozo Shalom Youth Village, is more beautiful than I could have imagined. In the center of the village is a large dining hall, soon to be joined by the chapel and library (next in the construction plans). On the hill below are the homes- orange, green, and yellow buildings that will soon house the first class of 125 students. At the highest point of the village, symbolizing that one can always reach higher in learning, is the school. From every point there is a breathtaking view- hill after hill rolling into the horizon, with a shining lake in the center. Just like at Yemin Orde in Israel, at ASYV one can always see far, so that one can go far.

Counselors, house mothers, cooks, security guards, construction workers, landscapers, Israeli and American volunteers (there are seven of us), and many other staff are busy getting the village ready for the arrival of 125 children on Monday. My head is already overflowing with ideas for art projects to do with the kids, and I can't wait to get started. But even with the busy days, we have made time to enjoy freshly cooked meals of cassava, rice, beans, and vegetables. Our kitchen is made of a large store room of vegetables and a few outdoor fire pits, but the food is great. And these chefs certainly know the most about kosher cooking in this part of the world! They have made is quite easy for me to feel very comfortable here and are interested in learning more about why I practice religion the way I do, as many of them are very religious themselves.

Throughout the week, we have been busy with inspirational training sessions by Anne Heyman, founder of ASYV, and other staff leaders. I led one session on leadership, and in a discussion about role models I was shocked to hear personal accounts of the genocide that almost all of the counselors and house mothers experienced. Most notable and difficult to understand is the desire to forgive. It is something that I hope to continue to explore.

And of course, I cannot forget the Rwandan dancing. Dancing has always been my favorite way to integrate into a new culture and this is no exception. Last night I joined the Rwandan counselors in their traditional dancing- strong, graceful arm movements and steady rhythmic steps. The shining smiles on everyone's faces as we danced together to clapping, singing, and cheering, showed that we are a team, and together we are a part of something amazing. Every person here, whether Rwandan, Israeli, or American, has the sincere desire to create a place that will give Rwandan children hope, skills, strength, and a promising future. And in just a few days… it begins!

Buckets of paint, pieces of tile, pencils, glue, and brushes poured into Yemin Orde youth village over the past few months. For three months I have worked with Yemin Orde youth to transform the beautiful green campus into a canvas of color. My first project was a lively mosaic made of pieces of broken tile and mirror. A group of ten children from Ethiopia, Brazil, and China worked with me to develop the design for the mosaic which would represent some of the central values of Yemin Orde. Once the sketch was completed, all of the youth of the village voted on the location of the mosaic- near the dining hall. Next the work began! Children worked with me during their breaks from school to break tiles, glue them to the wall, and fill in the grout. The result was a beautiful work of art that represents the themes of Torah, unity, Israel, and working together. My next project was a large, colorful mural on one of the central walls of the village. I worked with a group of thirty twelfth grade boys from over five different countries to design, draw, and paint the mural. The experience brought the diverse group together and gave them tremendous pride, for their creation will remain a permanent part of the Yemin Orde landscape, and will continue to express the message of unity and cooperation for years to come! In just a few weeks I will bring her creativity to Yemin Orde Initiative’s newest project, the soon-to-open Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda! I will volunteer there for eight months, painting, teaching, and spreading all that she has learned at Yemin Orde. I will miss Yemin Orde, but I am glad to be spreading the message of Tikkun Olam, mending the world, in Rwanda, and making it more colorful along the way!

As the sun melted into the Mediterranean on Friday evening, the promise of something extraordinary floated in the air. Every Shabbat at Yemin Orde youth village is unique, but this weekend the village had the opportunity to host twelve Rwandan teachers who will soon open the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. After an intense day of training by the Yemin Orde Intiatives Educational Institute, the eleven teachers, along with two Ethiopian Yemin Orde graduates who will join them in Rwanda, prepared for their first ever Shabbat experience. They gathered at a lookout over the Mediterranean, and were joined by fifteen children of Yemin Orde who came from Ethiopia, Sudan, Brazil, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine. Two of the children were refugees from Darfur who had fled to Israel and studied at Yemin Orde. As the children and teachers talked and sang, smiled began to spread around the circle and the beginning of a bond was formed. The children understood that these Rwandan teachers were going to build something great and that they were a part of it, and the teachers understood that these children were examples of the success they hoped to achieve in their own country.

Perhaps coincidently, the words painted on the floor in the center of this multicultural circle read, “Ain Menatzchim B”Alimut,” “We cannot win with violence,” a central value of Yemin Orde and a message that the Rwandan teachers, each themselves survivors of the 1994 genocide, already embodied.

After singing and dancing in the synagogue, the teachers joined their new Yemin Orde friends for Shabbat dinner in the dining hall. During dinner, Wilton Ndayisenga, principle of the Agahozo Shalom school, addressed all three hundred children. “We are here to share our experiences with you,” he said in a booming voice, “we want to learn from you and learn with you. Together we are going to change the world.”

Later that evening, the children and teachers gathered for an activity. Language was not necessary for this cultural exchange, as each group of children taught a dance from their country. The Rwandan teachers stole the show as they led the children in clapping, singing, stomping, and twirling according to Rwandan tradition. “This is the dance one does before giving the woman you love a cow,” they explained. The kids couldn’t get enough and danced all the way back to their houses that night.

On Shabbat morning Ofer Yerushalmi, director of Yemin Orde, and the children led the Rwandan teachers on a dynamic tour of the village. In Yemin Orde, every building, tree, wall, and stone is an opportunity to teach a message of leadership, cultural pride, or tikkun olam. The teachers were especially impressed by the “godjo,” the traditional Ethiopian hut which reminded them of homes in Rwanda.

Shimon Solomon, Yemin Orde graduate who will be working at Agahozo Shalom for two years, addressed the children of the village during lunch and told of the impact Yemin Orde has had on his life. “Through the army, my first and second degrees, my work in the Ministry of Education, and my current job as director of an absorption center, Yemin Orde and Dr. Chiam Peri are my role models. And now I am going to take what I have learned here to orphans in Rwanda.” The children beamed. The village they called home was making a difference in the world. They were making a difference in the world.

As the weekend came to a close, Yemin Orde had the privilege of hosting Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel and his wife Marion to celebrate the opening of a new children’s home. In a historical encounter, Mr. Wiesel, himself a child survivor of the Jewish genocide, imparted the wisdom of his experience to the Rwandan team.

The Rwandan teachers boarded the bus back to Jerusalem amid myriad hugs from the children and handshakes with Dr. Chiam Peri. “I learned from you not to only care about myself,” said Avraham, an Ethiopian student in the ninth grade who had spent the weekend with the Rwandan team. “Your actions speak louder than your words,” replied Deo, who will teach computer science at Agahozo Shalom, “What we have experienced here is the beginning of something great, it has struck a match.”

The flame will not only light up Agahozo Shalom, but it has made Yemin Orde brighter as well.

A surprising visit to Rambam hospital...

Chag sameach (happy holidays) to you from sunny Haifa!
I write to you from an outdoor café where friends leisurely sip their coffee and wish each other a shana tova (good new year).

As the holidays approached at Yemin Orde, the village celebrated with more than just apples and honey. Classes were disrupted during the week leading up to Rosh Hashanah and instead the kids participated in Tikkun Olam (mending the world) projects. What does Tikkun Olam have to do with celebrating holidays and with life at Yemin Orde? It wasn’t until I joined the ninth grade on their visit to Rambam Hospital in Haifa that I understood.

I boarded a school bus together with over sixty ninth graders and managed to find a seat next to a girl with a very sweet smile who didn’t appear to speak much Hebrew or English. Over the sixty different hip hop songs blasting from every ninth grader’s cell phone (earphones are apparently not too popular) I managed to understand that the girl sitting next to me had arrived in Israel only two weeks ago from Poland and was studying in an ulpan (intensive Hebrew course) in the village. How brave she was to start a new life for herself in a country where she did not even know the language! Across the aisle from me sat an Ethiopian boy who asked me questions about life in America. “Are there other Jews in America?” he asked. “Do you like living in Israel?” I replied that for me Israel was the best and asked him about life in Ethiopia. He told me that Israel was better because in Israel he could learn many things. “What did you learn in Ethiopia?” I asked. “I didn’t go to school,” he replied, “I was a shepherd until I came to Israel three years ago.”
As the ninth graders filed out of the bus, I felt an overwhelming sense of admiration for the children who had each taken amazing journeys to be here.

But I hesitated as they headed toward the entrance of Rambam Hospital. Like most high schoolers they were loud, joking, yelling, and blasting their music. No one seemed particularly excited to visit sick patients and some kids loudly complained about coming in the first place. But as they turned the corner into the hospital wing and came face to face with patients in wheel chairs and hospital beds, everything changed.

They took on the role of caregiver and with gentleness and pride wished a shana tova to the patients and their families. They handed out apples dipped in honey and Rosh Hashanah cards to the nurses and doctors. Smiles lit their faces and their confidence grew with every room they visited.

As the group was about to leave a man stopped them and said that an Ethiopian woman who had recently arrived in Israel and spoke only Amharic had recently been admitted to the hospital and had no visitors. The kids ran to her room and crowded around her bed, joking with her in Amharic and bringing beautiful smiles to both her face and theirs.

When the ninth graders returned to the village that evening they were not the same group that had left a few hours before. They walked a little straighter and smiled a little wider. The boy who had grown up as a shepherd, the girl who had just arrived from Poland, the kids who were struggling in their English classes, and those who were just starting to adjust to their new lives at Yemin Orde were suddenly not the ones asking for help. They were the ones bringing strength and happiness to others, and in turn they brought it to themselves. Yemin Orde functions with the belief that Tikkun Olam (mending the world) and Tikkun HaLev (mending the heart) are inextricably intertwined. It is this same belief that fuels Yemin Orde’s involvement in building the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. By bringing their successful philosophy to Rwandan orphans, Yemin Orde graduates improve the world and improve themselves. In the ninth grade visit to Rambam Hospital, I came to understand this idea first hand.

In this new year and time of introspection, may we all have the ability to change our world for the better, and in turn to bring strength and happiness to ourselves.

Shalom from Yemin Orde!

Shalom from Yemin Orde youth village!


I am beginning my third week in this beautiful community in the Carmel Mountains, made up of over 500 teenagers from Ethiopia, Brazil, Russia, China, Georgia, Ukraine, and more.


The kids range in ages from seven to nineteen and both live and attend school in the village. Diversity is the norm here, where at any given moment one can hear not only Hebrew but Portugese, Amharit, Russian, and even Chinese being spoken in the dining hall and streets of the village.

The village is also home to about thirty staff families and their children, as well as alumni of the village who still call it home and are always welcome to return.


I am the only American living in the village and as such am responsible for translating numerous English rap songs and reporting on the latest MTV news, since of course I personally know all of the famous hip hop artists in the US! (Of course I did not forget to mention that being a St. Louisian I grew up near Nelly)

But when I'm not explaining where St. Louis is on the map, I am very busy teaching art classes and tutoring in English. I am leading a group of kids from different countries in planning a mosaic mural for a wall of the village and have begun painting portraits of the students here. I host a nightly "English Table" in the dining hall at which anyone who wants to join speaks only English, and we discuss things such as the shnitzel we are eating tonight. It is always a lot of fun!! I am constantly trying to think of new ways to use art to bring a group of kids to work together, beautify the campus, and allow them to express themselves in new ways.


One of the most beautiful things about life here is the respect given to each child's past. In the center of the village is a traditional Ethiopian hut or "gojo." It reminds the many Ethiopian students to be proud of where they came from and not to forget the difficult journey that many took to get here.


I am learning so much about life in the village that will be useful to me at Agahozo Shalom in Rwanda. The entire Yemin Orde family is very proud to be spreading their educational philosophy around Israel and into the heart of Africa, and it is very exciting for me to be a part of that process.



There are challenges of course, such as giving complex Hebrew instructions on how to make a book to kids whose first language is Amharit and battling giant cockroaches, but overall it is a wonderful and inspiring place to be.

Shana tova- a wonderful new year to all!

Epic battles and muddy mosaics

Welcome to "Emek HaElah", a valley just outside of Jerusalem, surrounded by hills of beige clay and dotted with green Terebinth trees, from which the valley gets its name. In the time of King Saul, this was the place of the epic battle between young David and the Philistine giant, Goliath.

Today, nestled in this valley, is Kibbutz Netiv HaLamed Hey and the Eco-Arts Village, a community of artists who are inspired by the landscape around them and dance, paint, write, and sculpt their love of the land and its history.

But how does one transform the landscape and its rich history into
a piece of art?

This week I worked with the Eco-Arts Village to lead workshops for 100 teenagers from across the US and Israel to do exactly that. We created colorful mosaics with pieces of pottery and glass that evoked the rise and fall of the land around us, and made the land an integral part of the artwork by sealing the mosaics with a mixture made of all natural materials found in the earth.

We choreographed a dance that represented the battle between David and Goliath, and performed it to poetry that expressed how we can interpret the ancient battle in our lives.

Returning to my rooftop apartment at Moshav Aviezer after a day of building with mud at the kibbutz, driving through the Judean hills past Arab children riding donkeys, passing through security checkpoints, and shopping in stores urging customers to dress in accordance with Jewish dress customs, I pour out my response to this tiny, vivacious country in colors, crayons, and brushstrokes. My grandmother, a collector of Israeli art, used to say that the sun shines brighter in Israel than anywhere else in the world, and that its light attracts artists from all corners of the earth. To me it is not only the light in Israel, but the intensity of everyday life, the diversity of the population, and the remarkable landscape that inspire creativity.

This week I began to study a new form of art, one that combines artistic skill with a detailed knowledge of Jewish law. Sofrut, the ancient tradition of scribing holy texts, requires one to carefully study the laws of shaping each letter, and is done with a feather quill and special ink on parchment made of animal hide. I have only just begun with the Hebrew letter "bet", but I am excited to learn this special tradition and combine my art inspired by the land of Israel with the language of Torah.

Click the second slideshow to the right to view more pictures including my cousin Asher's wedding and the Ella Valley vineyard right in my backyard!

Don't forget to visit www.TanyaFredman.com and write me at Tanya@TanyaFredman.com

Lehitraot, and all the best!

Tanya

Moshav Aviezer

I arrived in Israel yesterday and will be living in the most beautiful apartment on Moshav Aviezer for the next six weeks. See it for yourself by clicking on the first slide show, to the right. I got my first taste of the Eco-Art village this morning by dancing with members of the Vertigo Dance Company. And I began working with artist Shoshana Gugenheim on "Women of the Book", a very exciting collaborative art project of Jewish women from all over the world.
It is amazing to be here and to be beginning my adventure- thanks for coming along!!
Lehitraot!