Initiatives
Mentorship pairs students with the educators and professionals who have already walked the path they are trying to find — so the next decision is made with someone, not alone.
Why it matters
A student in Uganda or South Sudan can be the strongest mathematician in their class and still have no idea what an engineer does all day, which subjects a degree needs, or whether anyone like them has done it before. That is not a gap in talent. It is a gap in exposure and in networks — and it is the one a mentor closes.
Mentorship runs alongside the other programmes rather than instead of them. A scholarship pays the fees; a mentor is the person a student can ask what to do next.
The programme is written down twice — once for the person giving time, once for the student receiving it.
Volunteer mentors are educators, engineers, scientists, and graduates who give time to a student. The work is conversation more than instruction: what the job is actually like, which subjects matter, how an application is put together, and what to do when a plan does not survive contact with reality.
You do not have to be in the room. Mentoring happens face to face where the programmes run, and by phone or video from anywhere else.
Sign up to mentorMember students are matched with someone working in the field they are curious about. Over a cohort, that becomes guidance on subject choices, university applications, and career direction — plus the thing no syllabus provides: a working adult who takes the question seriously.
Mentorship is open to students already in a foundation programme — the Youth STEM School, the Science Fair, or a scholarship.
See the Science Fair2026/27
Both sides of the pairing get a handbook for the year. They are dated 10 September 2026 and prepared by Joshua Mutesasira in Kampala.
Free to download and free to pass on — print a set for a school, or send one to a student who needs it. Questions about the programme? Get in touch.
Pick Mentorship as your area on the volunteer form. The team will be in touch to work out what fits.
Become a mentor
A mentor
Senior Civil Engineer
A Senior Civil Engineer specialising in dam safety and structural engineering. Rose brings professional practice and academic training together to help students see a concrete path from classroom STEM into engineering careers.
Meet the teamScholarships, hands-on STEM, and student-led innovation — mentorship runs alongside all three.
Our work in UgandaTeacher training, equipment access, and mentorship, as the programmes extend across the border.
Our work in South Sudan
