RWANDA Fellowship Program
Each year, Shooting Touch Rwanda (STR) selects three international Fellows who have the desire to give back using the game of basketball. Fellows live and serve in Shooting Touch Rwanda communities for up to eight months, where they work alongside STR’s local coaching staff to facilitate year-round basketball programming, provide health education and services, and promote social change. Engaging with 4,000+ youth and women across six communities. Fellows embark on a cultural experience, create strong professional networks, build new skillsets, and develop an enhanced perspective of the world around them.
Explore the resources below to learn more about the Shooting Touch Rwanda Fellowship Program.
Applications for the 2026 Rwanda Fellowship Program are currently open.
STR Fellowship "Day in the Life" (Matt Barr, 2018)
Watch the video above, featuring former Shooting Touch Rwanda (STR) Fellow Matt Barr, for a glimpse into the daily life of a Fellow living in rural Rwanda.
Program OVERVIEW
The Rwanda Fellowship Program is an amazing hands-on opportunity to support an organization to educate and inspire youth and women using the power of basketball. Working alongside our bi-lingual coaching staff, international Fellows help to oversee programming across six basketball courts serving thousands of Rwandan beneficiaries, while working with local partner organizations to improve lives at the community level.
As a team, Fellows are responsible for a variety of tasks, including supporting local program staff with:
Organizing health awareness basketball tournaments
Teaching health educational sessions
Running seasonal basketball leagues
Training local coaches via clinics and workshops
Partnering with local organizations to provide health testing, mental health services, and gender equity trainings
Storytelling and promotion of STR programs
Not only do Fellows help to influence positive health and socio-cultural change within rural Rwandan communities, but they also become part of the robust sport-for-development ecosystem, with representatives from the NBA, FIBA, ESPN, Nike, Adidas, the International Olympic Committee, and many other organizations connected to basketball, philanthropy, and business around the world. Additionally, you will have opportunities to network with our global health and equity partners, including Partners in Health, and Rwanda’s Ministry Health and Ministry of Gender.
PROGRAM HISTORY
In 2012, Shooting Touch put down program roots in Rwanda, a country that ranks about 159th out of 193 on the Human Development Index (2023), and is still working to recover from the impact as a result of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. Over the past 14 years, Fellows have supported the construction of 7 basketball courts, worked alongside 50+ coach-educators and engaged with over 120,000 beneficiaries within rural communities of Rwanda; contributing to the foundation of what has become the country’s first ever free youth basketball league for youth and women, as well as an internationally recognized, gold-standard sport-for-development organization.
Today, the program is a 8-month international service Fellowship in Rwanda, where Fellows work with local STR coaches to identify and address community needs using the power of sport as a tool for mobilization. Shooting Touch Rwanda’s goal is to provide youth, women, and their communities with opportunities to live an active, happy, and healthy life, free from disease and abuse. In order for our sites to serve as more than just basketball courts, we also utilize these spaces to deliver collaborative programs alongside Shooting Touch’s network of local clinics, hospitals, social service providers, and community centers.
“There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Rwanda. Working as a Fellow has changed my life. I grew as an individual and overcame obstacles I never thought possible. I now work for the NBA and can apply what I have learned with Shooting Touch to my everyday life.”
Jake Mendys, 2016 Fellow
