I never imagined that a single project invitation from Impact Hope would reshape how I understand the intersection of architecture, mission and service. The project’s name—Amizero—comes from the Kinyarwanda word for “hope.” For me, that word stopped being academic the moment I stood on a rural hillside overlooking the gentle, rolling landscape of beautiful Rwanda. Our Andrews University School of Architecture & Interior Design (SAID) students milled around, capturing images as fast as they could before the torrential rains seen in the distance blew through. The minds of faculty and students alike raced with the possibilities of how this terrain could be developed into a school campus, a center of hope and influence.
Impact Hope is a nonprofit organization created in 2016 that empowers refugee youth by educating them into self-sufficiency at safe, Christian boarding schools. Together with Impact Hope, our Urban Design Studio 2025 class designed an educational campus for these young people. And yet, our collaboration resulted in something far greater than plans for a campus. It stands as powerful evidence that education itself can become an instrument of healing; that architectural form can teach and embody self-reliance; and that the biblical call to “bear one another’s burdens” can take tangible form through dormitories, workshops and classrooms.
Long before we boarded a plane to Rwanda, the country’s story had gripped our team. From the early settlements to the colonial divisions that pitted neighbor against neighbor, through the unspeakable horror of the 1994 genocide, the land itself seemed to whisper the same truth: education and safe community spaces are not luxuries—they are necessities.
Impact Hope, under the leadership of Mindy Thygeson, founder and president, and Judith Mutamuliza, Rwanda director, invited our studio to imagine a School of Excellence paired with a Vocational Training Center designed specifically for the refugee youth the organization sponsors.
Our process began in the studio, with foundational preparation through academic lectures, presentations from guest speakers who had lived in refugee camps, and in-depth studies of proven boarding schools and trade centers across the world. These were followed by two weeks in Rwanda that impressed upon us the true importance of this work.
Once in Kigali, Rwanda, we met the students whose futures we were being asked to help build. We listened to their dreams and empathized with their needs. As red earth stained our shoes and warm breezes billowed through van windows, we tried to consume all the scenery about us. We researched examples of similar local schools, toured architectural sites and witnessed the realities of a refugee camp. I remember one young woman telling me, “My education is everything to me and my family. I carry the burden of finding a better way of life.”
Niki Djordjevic, one of our architecture students, captures the profound shift these encounters sparked, saying, “Traveling to Rwanda was the most meaningful experience of my five years studying architecture. Immersing myself in the culture and working directly with the refugee students reshaped how I see design. Instead of only focusing on the building, focusing on the students helped make the design more personal and with purpose!”
He added, “Witnessing how their gratitude for education leads them to praise God every step of the way really inspired me! This experience connected architecture and mission in a tangible way, reminding me that we are not just designing buildings but helping build hope!”
“My education is everything to me and my family. I carry the burden of finding a better way of life.”
Architecture student Ibraheem Majeed reflects that “it was the warmth of the people” that impressed him the most. It was words like these—spoken by both the refugee youth and our own team—that became our compass. Abstract theory dissolved; real faces and real needs took its place.
Upon returning to campus in Michigan, Ruben Hernández, associate professor, SAID, Ruthzaly Weich, professional consultant and Andrews alumna, and I guided the students through two distinct campus case studies. We explored how the same program could be organized, built and experienced in different ways and continuously asked, “How are the spaces being experienced? How can we provide a safe place students can call home? How can the design foster a spirit of resilience and belonging?”
From these questions, we created a comprehensive set of planning tools for Impact Hope: diagrams showing how buildings could adapt to varying slopes; how dormitories and cafeterias could nestle into the land; and how open spaces, circulation paths and water management systems could support daily life rather than fight against it. We also produced architectural guidelines that speak the language of welcome—generous walkways, carefully placed windows that invite light and breeze, roofs that echo local forms, materials chosen for dignity and durability, and landscapes that heal rather than dominate.
Our School of Excellence plan centers on accessibility, excellence and long-term sustainability for 1,500 students. It encompasses libraries, classrooms, dormitories, a cafeteria, laboratories and a conference hall. The shared spaces aim to foster both academic rigor and the deep sense of belonging every teenager craves.
Also included in this plan is the Vocational Training Center, designed for 600 students. This trade school will support the already functioning trades that Impact Hope has helped develop and grow, providing an array of options for students’ continued education. Here the focus shifts from academics to workforce readiness, offering training in tailoring, carpentry, culinary arts, agriculture, graphic design and more.
Every building, every pathway, every garden is created to say: “You belong here. You can stand on your own. You can lift others.”
Theory classrooms sit beside active workshops and spaces where students create real products, earn certifications and even generate income while they learn. Dormitories, trade-specific study libraries, administrative offices and outdoor agricultural training zones complete a campus that feels alive with purpose.
Our design draws deeply from models of educational excellence that have long inspired Christian service. We took inspiration from Madison College, a gem of the Seventh-day Adventist system shaped by E.A. Sutherland and the counsels of Ellen G. White. Sutherland modeled his vision for Madison College from research he had done at the University of Virginia. He championed lessons in simplicity, walkability, community, stewardship and holistic formation. The result is a place where faith, learning and work are not separate compartments but interwoven threads.
At the heart of the plans for Amizero beats the same resilient spirit that has carried Rwanda forward for generations. Local materials sourced and shaped on site will echo centuries of craftsmanship. Self-sustaining water and energy systems will teach stewardship. Agricultural processes will enable students to plant, harvest and learn while feeding their community. Every building, every pathway, every garden is created to say: “You belong here. You can stand on your own. You can lift others.”
For those sponsored by Impact Hope—young Christians who have already endured more than most of us can imagine—the campus will provide far more than classrooms. It will offer safe housing, nourishing meals, mentorship, spiritual development, high-quality education, vocational training, business skills, university preparation and ongoing guidance that turns surviving into flourishing. When these students graduate, they will not simply leave the school behind; they will carry hope to their families and communities.
Looking back, I am overwhelmed by gratitude. I feel the weight and the wonder of what God can do when architects, educators and mission leaders say yes to a vision larger than themselves. Amizero is still a dream on paper, but it is already a place of restoration in our hearts. It is proof that when we design with the gospel in our hands—when we build not just for function but for dignity, resilience and the Kingdom—we participate in the same redemptive work that turns camps of despair into campuses of hope.
One day soon, I pray, I will walk those same pathways again—this time filled with the laughter of 2,100 young people who, having navigated the challenges of their past, have discovered their present is secure in Christ and their future is bright with Amizero.
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