Alice Rowan Swanson Fellow partners with local organization to build a fish farm social enterprise in Uganda
May 20th, 2025 | Africa, Fellowships, SIT Study Abroad
By Joanna Tanger
School for International Training has named Allie Stankewich, a 2021 alumna of SIT’s Public Health in the Tropics Internship program in Uganda, as the newest Alice Rowan Swanson Fellow.
For her fellowship, Stankewich will implement the project “Sustainable Fish Farm for Thriving Youth Farmers of Uganda.” The project includes the construction of a fish farm and a sustainable aquaculture-based youth empowerment program. The plan is to build three ponds: a nursery pond, a water reservoir, and a pond for rearing fish. All will be part of a larger working farm and training center operated by Thriving Youth Farmers Uganda (TYoFU) in Kalongero Village, Masulita. This aquaculture system will provide training programs for under-resourced Ugandan youth to develop practical skills that are transferable to other sectors, including basic finance, nutrition education, resource management, and community sanitation.
Young people in Uganda face economic challenges due to high unemployment and a lack of income-generating opportunities. TYoFU prepares local youth for employment and healthy, sustainable livelihoods through agriculture. This fish farm will serve as both a food source and a way to generate revenue, and profits from the farm will be reinvested in the local community to fund public health trainings. The ponds are expected to rear 10,000-15,000 fish per pond. Pond construction started this month, and TYoFU’s team will sustain and expand the project’s ongoing impact.
To ensure this project is community-driven, Stankewich sat down with Ugandan staff at TYoFU to better understand the community’s needs and how she can best support them. She learned that TYoFU and their community have had the desire to build a large fish farm social enterprise since the organization began in 2021. An expanded farm will reach more young people for training, employment, and entrepreneurship. However, funding has been a constant challenge.
Uganda is a country of rich, fertile land and wise, hardworking, innovative people. As I learned through my SIT internship in Uganda—though it is a rapidly developing and growing African nation—environmental degradation, a legacy of extraction, and a burdened public health system pose vast challenges of unemployment, poverty, and food scarcity. Communities facing such obstacles are eager and ready to work, but leaders with innovative visions often lack the necessary capital to execute their aspirations and initiatives.
Stankewich is currently working in Kampala, Uganda, as a Fulbright English teaching assistant at Makerere University and Mengo Senior School. She is also a regional Fulbright mentor. Throughout her time in Uganda, Stankewich has worked with local community organizations involved in food security and public health initiatives. She connected with TYoFU, and after visiting their farm and meeting their team, she wanted to do more.
What a gift it is to continue building bridges with the rich culture, beautiful environment, and warm people of Uganda. I am very grateful to SIT and the Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship for making possible the launch of this sustainable fish pond project in collaboration with TYoFU. I have been inspired by TYoFU's resilience and determination to realize a vision of greater opportunity for the livelihoods and leadership of rural Ugandan youth. It is an honor to witness how this fellowship has quickly enabled a great transformation of the training farm and opened new pathways for community engagement. We are eager to see the benefits of skill development, food security, and social enterprise continue to fruitfully multiply.
After finishing up her Fulbright grant, Stankewich would like to pursue a master’s in global environmental health. She hopes to work with international organizations addressing food justice in community development through research and policy interventions. She adds, “Personally, I know Uganda will always hold a special place in my heart. I look forward to continuing to cultivate the relationships and experiences I've built here and transforming that wealth of knowledge into community-centered impact.”
The Alice Rowan Swanson Fellowship was established in 2009 by the family of SIT Nicaragua 2006 alumna Alice Rowan Swanson as a living tribute to her life, her passion for bridging cultures and helping others, and the role that SIT Study Abroad played in her life. A 2007 Amherst College graduate, Alice was killed while riding her bike to work in 2008.
The fellowships are awarded twice annually to SIT Study Abroad and International Honors Program alumni to return to their program country and pursue further development projects benefiting human rights in that region.