Photo: Owners Alissa & Josh Ruxin, with their daughter Maya
The Heaven Story
We moved to Rwanda in 2006 for Josh's work as Director of the ACCESS and Millennium Villages Projects – two development initiatives focused on improving health systems and creating prosperity in the poorest parts of the country.
I spent my first year volunteering with Orphans of Rwanda (ORI) (www.orphansofrwanda.org), a unique organization which supports university scholarships for orphans. With every round of applications, only a small number of youth are accepted, and many secondary school graduates find themselves without enough money to pay for university and insufficient education or experience to attain a well-paid job. My experience with ORI inspired me to create a business that would offer vocational training and employment for youth in Rwanda. My education and training are in public health (not in the hospitality business!) but when I looked around at the various opportunities for investment, I decided to build a new restaurant. I saw a growing number of tourists, business travelers and expatriates coming to Rwanda, all looking for great venues to enjoy during their stay and felt a new restaurant would be a welcome addition.
My dream grew. I wanted to do more than just build a new restaurant; I wanted my business to contribute to the overall development of Rwanda. I created Heaven to support the economy, tourism, create jobs and provide ongoing vocational training. In 2007 I began construction of Heaven, and opened our doors for business in May 2008.Heaven employs 20 staff directly, supports many local farmers, suppliers, technicians and artists, and provides ongoing training in order to achieve excellence and build future leaders in the local service industry.
Why Heaven was born in Rwanda
Rwanda is an extremely safe and peaceful country, and since the genocide, the country is working fast to rebuild and develop. The hospitality industry, however, is still weak and Rwandans are in need of training to improve service standards and draw more tourists and travelers into the country! This is why we opened Heaven.
How You Can Help
Our goal is to provide ongoing vocational training for our staff in culinary arts, restaurant management and customer service. We are hoping to find people with an interest in contributing to the development of Rwanda - particularly trained cooks, service staff and restaurant managers who would be willing to come for a few weeks or a longer-term stay to train our staff and help us make Heaven more heavenly! We are looking for dynamic people who are up for an adventure. This could be a wonderful experience for the right person to contribute to the success of a new restaurant and the development of Rwanda. If you are interested, please email us at heavenrwanda@gmail.com.
The Heaven team with visiting gourmet Head Chef, Matthew Miner (front center), and his wife, Sara Stender (3rd from right back row), who jointly managed Heaven from January through August 2009.
