Our New Mentor Class – Tackling 830 Scholars This Year!

Over the last two and a half months Educate! has been training eight new mentors (teachers).  The mentors will start teaching the Educate!’s Socially Responsible Leadership Curriculum this month to our second class of students.  Below, Country Director Emily Lutyens and Program Director Angelica Towne talk about each mentor’s personality and what it took to land the job.

From left to right, Patrice, Charlotte, Jackie, Violet and Christine listen as Hawah presents on last weekend’s retreat in Kyangwali. 
This year the Educate! team decided to try a new kind of recruiting strategy. By teaching a 5 week Leadership Educator Course, we were able to further our goal of inspiring teachers to empower their students through their education. At the same time, we watched all trainees in action over 5 weeks of challenges and growth to truly test who had the most potential to teach the Educate! curriculum as an Educate! Mentor…  

We trained a total of 25 university graduates from many different backgrounds. The course culminated with each participant planning and implementing their own out-of- school youth workshop, covering topics from health to growing a business to marketing to mushroom growing. They recruited 20 local youth from the community for a 3 hour session of both practical skills and mentoring.  

The result was an outstanding new mentor class of 3 men and 5 women, all from extremely diverse backgrounds and experiences. Partnering these new recruits with the first (now very experienced) mentor class will create a dynamic duo at each partner school, deepening the support and impact we have on the 800 Educate! students this year.  

First…the ladies…  

Christine (25) is the deep-thinker. She graduated top of her class from Makerere University with a BA in Tourism. However, instead of driving safari buses, she has instead started women’s groups (poultry for income), worked as a primary school teacher, traveled to Australia for a youth leadership nonprofit and has experience in peer to peer empowerment teams.

Hawah (23) is the sporty one. She is our first Muslim mentor which we are very excited about. We hope her BA in Sports Science from Kyambogo University will serve her well in the many activities in the leadership course. Hawah volunteered to counsel young girls on how to use social entertainment events for social good. She enjoys teaching volleyball, netball (the British version of basketball) and soccer in rural areas to empower children.

Jackie (28) is the brainy one. Our first mentor from Northern Uganda, she’s very tall and a little serious. But, she has a great smile and a secret store of energy that we love to see. Jackie will use her BA in Management Science from Kyambogo University to excel as a dual mentor and office staff. Her passion is running community projects through her church ministry such as voluntary rubbish collection, road repair and house repair.

Violet (24) is the female empowerment one. Our Mbale mentor from class one, Esther Nakiirye, recruited Violet at a women’s entrepreneurship workshop. A graduate from Kampala International University with a BA in Business Administration, Violet is already a powerful female leader in Mbale, an easter region of Uganda where Educate! runs its program. Out of our new mentor class she has the most experience as a community mobilizer.

Charlotte (25) is the mother hen. She is our most experienced teacher (and former head teacher!) with a BA in Education from Kyambogo University. She wanted to leave the teaching profession to have a greater direct impact on youth, moving beyond the classroom setting to provide more mentorship. Then…she found Educate! She’ll be working with 3 partner schools and an orphanage in Kampala city centre.  
 
 
Above, Educate!’s newest class of mentors listen as Eric welcomes them to the Educate! team, via a conference call.

And now…the men…  

Richard (22) is the smile. He is the baby of the class but also the fastest learner. He has a BA in Procurement and Logistics Management from Kyambogo University. Why he studied that we have no idea, but he then worked as an HIV/AIDs peer educator providing counseling and advocacy to students and community leaders. He is partnering with the best smile from our first mentor class, Solomon Kayiwa.

George (24) is the entrepreneur. With a BA in Commerce, Accounting and Finance from Makerere University, he was the leader of his university’s AISEC microfinance and entrepreneurship project. We hope that his business skills will push our student entrepreneurship clubs to new heights. His future vision is to run his own social business.

Patrice (30) is the big daddy. Self-described as having a “Congolese nose,” Patrice is both a source of laughter and comfort. With a BA in Social Science from Makerere University, Patrice has been self employed since 2005 through his fish farm business. He has also worked as a financial services officer, managed to secure funds from the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund for a community water source, and started a self-help bee keeping project in his community.

We’re extremely excited about the potential of our new mentor class and look forward to sharing their success stories with you in the future. BOOYAKASHA!

Educate! love,

Emily & Angelica



 

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