Rwandan Orphans Get a Chance At Life
In Kagali, the horrors of Rwanda's past are on full display in almost every direction.
"We have more than 258,000 genocide victims that are buried in these 14 mass graves," said survivor Lambert Kanamugire.
But, nested atop one of Rwanda's 1,0000 rolling hills is a clear view of Rwanda's future.
CBS News' Dave Price reports Agahozo Shalomis home to more than 100 of the most fragile survivors of Rwanda's genocide.
"Agahozo means a place where tears are dried," said Anne Heyman. "Shalom is the Hebrew word for peace."
Two languages - Rwandan and Hebrew - because the origin of this school in Rwanda lies in decades-old concept first used in Israel to rescue thousands of children traumatized by the Holocaust.
More about Agahozo Shalom
Agahozo Shalom Youth Village
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Decades later, a different Holocaust on a different continent created the same urgent need. But this time, that rescue was made possible by an American mother of three.
"I look at these kids, and as a Jewish woman I say, 'sixty years ago, those could have been my kids that were left devastated,'" Heyman said.
Heyman - a former Manhattan prosecutor turned philanthropist - raised $12 million to build Agahozo Shalom in just two years. It's now a residential high school that's uniquely Rwandan - intended to open the minds and heal the hearts of the orphans.
Seventeen-year-old Rosette Mushimiyimana was wounded and thrown in a river when she was just two years old - before being rescued by a complete stranger.
"When I talk about myself, I cry," she said. "For example, I'm not even sure if my name was given to me by my parents or by the people that saved me."
Orphans come through the gates of Agahozo Shalom to confront the past, focus on the present, and prepare themselves for the future.
"Life in the village is about repair," Heyman said. "It can be anything from therapy, to sports, or music or art. Whatever it is that makes them feel good about themselves."
Therapeutic and academic, Agahozo Shalom will eventually ready 500 Rwandan teenagers for a university education and a chance to fulfill their dreams.
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For Rosette, the once unimaginable now seems inevitable: she plans on becoming a doctor in her own country.
"Before I came to this school, it was very hard for me to see my life beyond a certain point," Rosette said. "But now," she said, "my future seems bright."
The village has given these children something else they've never known: family. House mother Augusta Mukasengoga raises the youngsters as if they were her own. The scar on her face is a reminder of the machete attack that claimed the lives of her husband and three of her children.
"Having lost most of your family, you must know the pain that-- that the children here have. How do you recover from that? How do you help them recover from that," Price asked.
"I have to love them because I personally came face to face with death," Mukasengoga replied. "When I look at them, I see my sister's children and my friends' children. I know they would have taken care of mine, if I was killed."
It's no coincidence that Heyman built Agahoza Shalom high on a hill - with infinity as its view. Its gates read, "if you see far, you will go far."
"The whole goal is to be able to sit somewhere, look far, and say there's no limit to where I am going," Heyman said. "There before the grace of God - you know this could