As the first anniversary of the tragic passing on of Anne Heyman in a horse accident draws closer, the Rwandan community in Belgium, in collaboration with the Rwandan Diaspora the world over, have organised a fundraising dinner to raise funds that will help sustain the school the deceased helped found.

Heyman founded the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village based in Rwamagana District that supports orphans of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

The event also seeks to mobilise all Rwandans and friends of Rwanda, to put their heads and hands together and devise means of ensuring continuity in the noble cause that was championed by the departed benefactor, who exhibited extraordinary audacity in fighting for the protection of the helpless.

Speaking to The New Times, Eric Ngabo, a member of the fundraising organising committee, said one cannot talk about the children in Agahozo Shalom Village without talking of Anne Heyman.

Heyman died on January 31 in freak horse riding fall during a jumping competition.

The Rwandan Diaspora all over the world feel affected by her loss, as well as by the humanitarianism the South African-born exemplified.

Since 2005, Heyman helped to raise millions of dollars through her personal donations and other contributions from friends, in order to create Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village, which is based in Rwamagana District.

And now, for the first time in nearly 10 years, these kids at the Village are going to spend their Christmas without their beloved ‘mother’.

The fundraising dinner will be held on December 28 at Kigali Serena Hotel, during which occasion Rwandan benefactors and friends, who feel sympathetic to the plight of these children, will meet and contribute towards assisting the children.

The youth, who live and study in the Agahozo-Shalom Village, come from all 30 districts of the country, and four representatives are chosen from each district every year.