Anne Heyman
Anne Heyman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anne Elaine Heyman June 16, 1961 Pretoria, South Africa |
| Died | January 31, 2014 (aged 52) Wellington, Florida, U.S. |
Cause of death | Horse-riding accident |
| Education | University of Pennsylvania (BA) George Washington University Law School Columbia Law School (JD) |
| Occupations | Lawyer, philanthropist |
| Known for | Founder of Agahozo Shalom Youth Village |
| Spouse | Seth Merrin (m. 1986) |
| Children | 3 |
Anne Elaine Heyman (June 16, 1961 – January 31, 2014) was a South African-born American lawyer and philanthropist, who founded the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, a residential school for orphans of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and for underprivileged children. She previously worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan.
Early life and education
[edit]Anne was born on June 16, 1961 in Pretoria, South Africa. She was the second of four children and was raised in Cape Town.[1][2][3] She moved to Boston at age 15 with her family. She was an active member of Young Judaea, a Zionist youth movement, during high school.[1][2][3] After high school, Anne spent a year in Israel through Young Judaea, where she met her future husband, Seth Merrin. Seth Merrin is the founder and former CEO of Liquidnet, an electronic stock trading firm.[4][3][5]
After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982, she again spent another year in Israel. She returned to the USA to attend George Washington University Law School, where she became editor of the Law Review.[1][2][3] In 1984, she transferred to Columbia Law School and graduated in 1985.[1][3] She and Merrin married on August 17, 1986.[3]
Career
[edit]After Anne graduated from law school, she joined Kronish Lieb Weiner and Hellman (later Cooley LLP) as a corporate lawyer for two years. Later, she became Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, where she prosecuted white-collar crime.[3][1][5] She left the District Attorney's office in 1994 after the birth of her third child.[1][3]
Activism
[edit]Heyman, an activist and philanthropist, served as President of the Board of Directors of DOROT, a Manhattan-based non-profit organization that helps older adults by reducing loneliness and building friendships.[6][7][5] She also supported Jewish youth through Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, Young Judaea, Tufts University Hillel, University of Pennsylvania Hillel, and the Jewish Community Center.[5]
Heyman created "Moral Voices", a lecture program designed to inspire college students to action on ethical issues.[3][5][8]
Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village
[edit]Inspiration
[edit]In 2005, Heyman attended a talk at Tufts University by Paul Rusesabagina, the Rwandan hotel manager portrayed in the movie Hotel Rwanda.[9][10][8] At the event, Anne's husband Seth asked Rusesabagina "what's the biggest challenge his country was facing?"; he replied "Orphans." Ten percent of Rwanda's population were orphans, making about 1.2 million children.[10][1][2][9]
Heyman provided a solution based on Israel's experience. After WWII, the new nation of Israel had cared for tens of thousands of children orphaned by the Holocaust through residential communities called youth villages.[1][2][11] During her interview with The New York Times she said: "It popped out of my head: They should build youth villages. Israel had a solution to the orphan problem. Without a systemic solution, this is a problem that won't solve itself."[1][11][7][12]
Planning and development
[edit]Anne began her research and traveled to Rwanda in 2006 to see if the Israeli model of youth villages would work culturally.[1][11][12][8] She partnered with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), which had experience in setting up villages for youth and it became an umbrella for her future organization.[1][8] She specifically used Yemin Orde, a youth village near Haifa founded in 1953 to house Holocaust orphans, as a model.[1][2] Chaim Peri, then director of Yemin Orde, became her mentor.[3][13]
In the summer of 2006, Heyman took a group of Ethiopian graduates from Yemin Orde to Rwanda to speak about their experiences.[12]
Heyman raised more than $12 million and acquired 144 acres of land 60 km east of Kigali to establish the youth village. Heyman planned the community to be on a high hill, saying: "children need to see far to go far."[1][2]
Village opening and growth
[edit]The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village opened in December 2008 with 125 students.[1][2][9][7] The village's name is a combination of the Kinyarwanda word agahozo ("a place where tears are dried") and the Hebrew word shalom ("peace").[1][2][11]
The village consists of 32 houses, each housing 16 students divided by sex with a house mother. The mothers themselves lost their children during the Rwandan genocide.[2][10][13] Ethiopian Jews who had grown up in Israeli youth camps were the first counselors.[1][11][9]
Currently, the village now houses approximately 500 students aged between 14 and 21.[1][2][14] The village provides the children with high school education, vocational training, healthcare, and counseling.[1][10][13] Students attend school, work on a farm, learn trades, and record gospel music.[1][2][11]
Village values
[edit]The village is guided by Jewish principles of tikkun olam (repairing the world) and tikkun halev (healing the heart).[15][12][9] Students learn about tikkun olam and are expected to help their community through service, like building homes and visiting clinics.[12][8] The village provides psychologists to the children for the purpose of healing their hearts.[9]
Academic success
[edit]In 2013, the first graduates of the youth village graduated. Overall, 99% of the graduating class passed matriculation exams. Rwandan President Paul Kagame attended the first graduation.[12][16] Students also received full scholarships to universities in Canada.[12][13]
Solar project
[edit]Heyman, with the intention of making the village self-sustaining, helped to build one of the largest solar energy plants in sub-Saharan Africa. The $24 million project, with an 8.5 MW facility, was financed and constructed by Gigawatt Global within the village's perimeter.[17][18] The field supplies approximately 6% of Rwanda's power grid. The company's lease fees help the village to be self-sustaining, and the company also provides training for the students.[18][2]
Death
[edit]On January 31, 2014, Heyman died after she fell from her horse while competing in a masters jumper competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Florida, at the age of 52.[1][2][14][6] The cause of death was cardiac arrest from her head injury sustained during the fall.[1][2] She died at Delray Medical Center.[16]
After her death, Israeli President Shimon Peres sent his letter of condolence.[16] Rwandan Youth Minister Jean Nsengimana also tweeted: "RIP #AnneHeyman — your legacy will live on forever, our thoughts are with your family and hundreds of youth in #ASYV who just lost a mother."[6][7]
The village announced Heyman's death with a Rwandan proverb: "Death is nothing so long as one can survive through one's children."[1][2]
Legacy
[edit]Agahozo-Shalom continues to operate and serve students.[15]
Heyman's family continues involvement: her son Jonathan volunteered at the village; her son Jason plans to join the board; her daughter Jenna organizes lectures about genocide.[2]
Her story has appeared in three books: The Power of Positive Destruction by Seth Merrin, The Art of Doing Good by Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon, and Act Three by Julie Shifman.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Martin, Douglas (2014-02-09). "Anne Heyman, Rwanda Rescuer, Is Dead at 52". The New York Times. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Anne Heyman". The Times. 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Anne Heyman Obituary". Legacy.com. 2014-02-03. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- ↑ Watkins, Jonathan (2026). "Seth Merrin steps away from CEO role at Liquidnet". The Trade. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Our Story". Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 "Anne Heyman, Rwandan youth village founder, dies in horse-riding accident". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 Zieve, Tamara (2014-02-01). "Jewish philanthropist Anne Heyman dies in horse-riding accident". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Celona, Thomas (2011-03-23). "Activist Anne Heyman to speak in Blue Bell". The Reporter Online. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gittleson, Ben (2014-02-03). "Anne Heyman Gave Rwanda Orphans a Family". The Forward. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 "Rwandan orphans find hope in village: Former New York attorney raised money to offer them a home and education". New York Daily News. 2012-05-24. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Martin, Douglas (2014-02-09). "Anne Heyman, 52; lawyer sheltered Rwandan orphans". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Set your sights high". The Jerusalem Post. 2013-08-07. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 4 "Harry & Kay Pay a Visit to Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda". World of Children. 2014-04-09. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 "Anne Heyman, founder of Rwandan youth village, dies at 52". The Times of Israel. 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 "In Memory of Anne Heyman: The Legacy We Carry On". Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village. 2023-01-31. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 3 Abramowitz, Yosef I. (2014-02-08). "The Zionist angel of Rwanda". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- ↑ "Jewish-sponsored youth village in Rwanda hosts first utility-scale solar power field". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
- 1 2 Udasin, Sharon (2015-02-06). "In Rwanda, Israelis and Americans launch East Africa's first commercial solar field". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2026-07-27.