On September 18th, research interns, our ‘Junior’ Jegna*, for the 2025/2026 academic year gathered for the first B-HUGs onboarding and induction event. We welcomed four new staff members: Emmanuel, Ana, Angela, and Ria, who joined the project this academic year. The session began with a presentation led by co-founder Safi and Jr Jegna Joy, who introduced us to the B-HUGs initiative. They shared the story behind B-HUGs, including how it was founded, its core vision and goals, as well as some of its previous projects and collaborations.

After the presentation, we focused on developing our Performance and Development Review (PDR) goals, outlining the areas where we would like to develop, contribute and take the lead throughout the year. To conclude the session, Eunice provided valuable training on using Generative AI in research and communication. She explained how to incorporate AI into our work, including methods for recording and summarizing reflective discussions and how AI tools can assist in presenting our research findings other communications.

On September 19th, co-founders Safi and Melody led a training session focused on youth mentoring, specifically emphasising what this looks like in the B-HUGs model. We began by defining a ‘B-HUGs glossary’ – commonly used words and phrases in the work we do, then compared our definitions to see where our interpretations aligned or differed. Following that, we worked through a series of scenarios that allowed us to practice active listening, with each Jr Jegna taking turns playing the roles of ‘mentor’ and ‘mentee’ to better understand both perspectives.

The session also covered how to structure mentoring sessions, exploring various mentoring approaches and identifying which formats resonate with our individual styles. To close the session, we worked with scripts to simulate real-life active listening scenarios, reinforcing the importance of actively listening to young people’s concerns and engaging them in meaningful ways to better understand their experiences, strengths, and areas for growth.

Overall, it was an exciting and inspiring start to the year, and the B-HUGs team is looking forward to a productive year ahead.

-Ria

* JEGNA (Jegnoch pl., Amharic): A person who has faced adversity, has demonstrated determination and courage in the protection of their people, land, and culture, who produces exceptionally high-quality work and who dedicates themselves to the defense, nurturing and development of young people by advancing their people, place, and culture.​