Purpose, patience, persistence, perseverance — and Sumz Snacks: VMI at the 11th Adolescent Skills Building Session

On Friday 12th December 2025, Vital Minds Initiative Uganda founder Alexis Ssekabembe joined Dr. Sabrina Kitaka’s team at The Adolescent Clinic, Mulago for the 11th Adolescent Skills Building Session — an annual gathering dedicated to equipping young people with the inner tools they need to navigate life.

The session’s theme — growing Purpose, Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance — could not have been more aligned with what VMI stands for. These are not just abstract values. They are the building blocks of mental resilience, and for adolescents managing the pressures of growing up in Uganda today, they are lifelines.

VMI attended as a community supporter, bringing along a donation of Sumz Snacks from our partners at Psalms Food Industries Limited. The snacks were distributed to the adolescents in attendance — a small but meaningful gesture that added warmth to a day of big conversations about life, growth, and what it means to keep going when things get hard.

About the session

The Adolescent Clinic, Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala
Led by Dr. Sabrina Kitaka, paediatric and adolescent health specialist, Makerere University

Theme: Growing Purpose, Patience, Persistence, and Perseverance — the 11th in an annual series

Events like this one are exactly the kind of spaces VMI wants to be part of — not always as a lead organiser, but as a present, contributing member of Uganda’s adolescent health ecosystem. Showing up, listening, learning from practitioners like Dr. Kitaka, and contributing what we can in the moment: that is community work in its most honest form.

It was also a natural step in what has since grown into a formal relationship — The Adolescent Clinic Mulago later became a medical support partner in VMI’s and AT-Youth Clinic Beera Star Blood Donation Campaign in May 2026, evidence that showing up consistently opens doors to deeper collaboration.

Alex attended the session representing Vital Minds Initiative Uganda and donated Sumz Snacks to the adolescents present. His presence reflects VMI’s commitment to being active within Uganda’s adolescent and youth health community — not just running its own programmes, but supporting and learning from others doing the same work.