A Path to Hope
Love’s Inventions exists to share Maggy Barankitse’s story, a story of imagination, hope, and love. Her story illustrates the possibilities of finding joy amidst suffering, and shows how trials and suffering can become a path to hope. Our desire is to further Maggy’s legacy, to expand her partnerships, and to inspire a new generation to join her commitment to solving the world’s social problems.
Maggy Barankitse
Fellows Program
The Maggy Barankitse Fellows Program curates innovative programming that offers young adults the opportunity to experience Maggy’s transformative work of hope-inspiring love at Maison Shalom in Rwanda. This multi-week immersive learning experience permits students to explore hope through action, capture inspiring stories of change, and develop their own leadership skills while learning to adapt in dynamic and uncertain environments. The real-world setting of Maison Shalom’s visionary work in Rwanda promises to enhance their creative thinking, build their resiliency, and expand their problem-solving abilities.
This program centers on learning from the transformative approach of Maggy Barankitse – whose work exemplifies how deep love, moral courage, and relationship can heal trauma, rebuild communities, and imagine audacious possibilities. The fellowship prioritizes study, reflection, and dialogue grounded in her model of change. Fellows explore how her values-driven leadership and community-building practices can inform their own work toward justice, healing, and human dignity, regardless of the discipline or corner of the world they choose.
This past May, fellows from two different universities came together to experience Maggy’s work firsthand through immersive learning experiences in Rwanda, coming alongside Maggy and dozens of others working to improve the lives of refugees and vulnerable Rwandans every day.
“One of the most important things this trip showed me is how to break these big visions of transforming the world into doable actions.”
Katarina Sparling, Duke University
“More than anything, I feel a responsibility to take what I’ve learned and carry it with me into every future project. The values of dignity, compassion, integrity, humility, and resilience aren’t just ideals—they’re now non-negotiables….This can’t be just an ‘abroad’ experience. It’s a lifelong shift.”
Candice Dillard, Belmont University
“Growing up, my self-worth was intimately tied to what I could offer the world whether that be my ability to make someone laugh or my ability to produce something for the benefit of everyone else. Something that got lost in the process was the idea that as a human being, I have innate worth….Being at Maison Shalom and interacting with the people made me wonder what it’d be like to start at a baseline of being good enough and the subsequent impacts it could have on our ability to create supportive and collaborative communities.”
Anjali Kapadia, Duke University
Maison Shalom
Maison Shalom - the House of Peace - is one of the world’s most innovative, non-governmental organizations at work today. Launched by Maggy in May 1994 in Ruyigi, Burundi, in response to the Hutu and Tutsi conflict, Maison Shalom initially served as a refuge for orphans and vulnerable children. Today, the organization is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, where in 2015 Maggy was forced to flee after speaking out against Burundi’s violence towards its own citizens. Maison Shalom supports tens of thousands of refugees and exiles living in Rwanda from more than a dozen countries, with some 60,000 of them housed in Rwanda’s Mahama Refugee Camp. Maison Shalom is dedicated to fostering communities defined by dignity, compassion, harmony, humility, and integrity.
Maison Shalom takes a holistic approach to its work with refugees and young people. It believes that the best way to ensure a bright future for every child in an effective and sustainable way is to develop the community in which they grow up. This vision entails a commitment to education, healthcare, psychological and social support for individuals suffering from various traumas, as well as economic development—including microfinance, the establishment of trade schools, and much more.
Ecole Sainte-Anne de Kigali
or St. Anne’s School, located on Maison Shalom’s main campus, is an International Baccalaureate (IB) program committed to educational excellence while simultaneously forming students who embody the values of dignity, compassion, harmony, humility, and integrity. The traditional African philosophy Ubuntu summarizes these values with the saying, “I am because we are.”
Mahama
Refugee Camp
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Rwandan government opened Camp Mahama in April 2015, initially, to accommodate the flood of refugees from the Burundian Civil War. In 2024, Mahama hosted 54,674 refugees, 5,761 asylum seekers and 3,047 Others of concern, a designation the U.N. uses for other displaced persons. Maison Shalom provides education, psychological support, multiple trade-school opportunities, women’s support, and more in this environment.
Socio-economic Programs
Maison Shalom runs a range of socio-economic programs at Camp Mahama and other regions of Rwanda designed to support needy families and individuals through skills training, microcredit programs, and in-kind grants. Individuals can enroll in programs that teach culinary skills, cobblery, woodworking, farming, sewing, and more.
Ubuntu Academy
The Ubuntu Academy at Mahama was formed in 2019, by members of the Burundian diaspora and friends of Maison Shalom. “Ubuntu,” according to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, “is the essence of being human. [It] means that you cannot exist as a human being in isolation.” It is an adult educational program that operates mainly in four areas: Kirehe district, where Mahama camp is located (Eastern Rwanda), Kigali city, Huye city (Southern Rwanda) and Bugesera city (Southeastern Rwanda).
Other Maison Shalom programs include:
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Resilience & Leadership for Adolescents and Girls
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Social & Entrepreneurial Engineering
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Health & Environment
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Agroecology & Sustainable Development
Get Involved
Love’s Inventions is Maggy’s invitation to participate in the transformative power of love and reconciliation. Following her example, let’s join hearts and hands to change our world as ambassadors of love for all humanity.
