First, let me share extracts from a powerful post I read this morning. Here goes:

“It all started during our final semester in 2022, when we were enjoying a delicious vegetable salad at the university cafeteria.

As we ate, a question arose: What if we produced these ingredients ourselves, right here in Bor?

That simple moment became the seed for a bold idea.

We started seeing agriculture not just as production, but as an entry point to something larger- a system of networks, value chains, and livelihood opportunities.

We moved from simply “growing food” to understanding markets, consumer preferences, and how to connect the supply side with demand through smart business decisions.

Our produce now supplies local hotels and restaurants, reducing their dependence on imports from Uganda and cutting transport costs.

From what I’ve experienced, youth don’t just need speeches or encouragement – they need real engagement.

They need to do, fail, learn, and see tangible benefits. This is what shifts mindset.”

Read the full post “Unlocking Potential: What holds back youth is not poverty, but poverty” by Thiong Achol Thiong, as published on the Netherlands Food Partnership website.

Reading Thiong’s post warmed my heart and gave me significant affirmation of the formal jobs that I have had.

Right after graduations from my first degree, I got to work with Quaker Service Norway, first as an Administrative Assistant; and I rose through the ranks until I was in the second-tier leadership.

Quaker Service Norway, subsequently, seconded me to nurture and build an independent membership organisation of the beneficiaries of its Change Agent Training Program, Uganda Change Agent Association, which I did.

Implementing the Change Agent Training Program taught me a lot and enabled me to contribute to mentoring others to appreciate the power of one’s attitude.

The Change Agent Training Program was premised and adapted from the work of Paulo Frieire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, which in essence encourages inward analysis of one’s attitude.

It set the foundation for my work passion and only for my personal life. I am passionate and have been privileged to contribute towards mentoring others less advantaged to believe in themselves and attain an attitude of self-reliance.

As the managing director and lead mentor at CPAR Uganda, cultivating positive attitudes through mentoring is the essence of my work.

I invite you read more in “How I got my first full-time paid white-collar job.”