Celebrating Our Young Scientists at UNSO 2026!

Kabojja International School is proud to celebrate the achievements of our STEM learners at the Uganda National Science Olympiad (UNSO) 2026 Tournament, where our students competed under two team names; Kabojja Neptune and Kabojja Warriors. They returned home with four gold medals!

Both teams took on the same research challenge, tackling a real problem facing Ugandan communities: an estimated 30 - 40% of milk, fruits and vegetables spoil before ever reaching customers, largely due to limited cold chain storage. Their project, "Using Lacto-Fermentation Limits to Produce Banana-Yoghurt and a Natural Preservative," explored whether science could offer an affordable, low-tech solution.

What they discovered:

Working with jars of fermenting milk, the teams found that adding mashed overripe banana or sugar sped up lacto-fermentation, allowing the milk to set into yoghurt faster than plain milk alone. But their innovation didn't stop there. They went on to test whey, the acidic liquid left over from straining yoghurt, as a natural preservative. Dipping sukuma wiki (collard greens) in whey for just 5 minutes kept the leaves fresh, firm, and green for up to 3 days, significantly outperforming both untreated leaves and longer dipping times.

Why it matters:

This simple, low-cost method has real potential of helping farmers and families reduce post-harvest losses, giving mothers a nutritious, homemade yoghurt option for their children and opening the door for young entrepreneurs to build low-cost yoghurt and food-preservation businesses.

Congratulations to our brilliant researchers:

• Kabojja Neptune - Melvin, Timothy and Ryan

• Kabojja Warriors - Theola, Kristabel and Mayanja

And a heartfelt thank you to their mentor, Ms. Irene Lunkuse, and our School Administration for guiding and supporting these young innovators every step of the way.

We are incredibly proud of the curiosity, rigor and teamwork our students bring to real world problem solving. Well done to all our UNSO 2026 medalists. You made us Proud!