Blossom Africa

Aimee Parker

I'm Aimee and I decided to set up Blossom Africa after living in a remote part of Eastern Uganda for 5 months in 2012. I have also visited communities in Sudan, Tanzania and Northern Uganda and every trip to Africa makes me more inspired! I am regularly shocked by the poverty I see and amazed by the communities resilience and positivity in the face of hardship. I am passionate about working with active community members, the people who voluntarily support their communities without being asked to. I believe in supporting these individuals to develop their skills to tackle the challenges they face and feel that this approach truly has the potential to bring about lasting change.
I am also passionate about creating social change in the UK and encouraging people to become more active both locally and globally, this is something I would like to develop through Blossom Africa in the future.

Catrin Edwards

I'm Catrin Edwards and I'm delighted to be a trustee of Blossom Africa.
I currently work in policy and campaigns for an equalities organisation and I feel strongly about enabling people to speak up about decisions that affect them.
I came on board after getting to know Aimee through our shared experience of visiting communities in Sudan, where we learned about the approaches these communities had adopted to identify and address the issues facing them. This involved up skilling active members of each community to enable them to tackle the barriers to the solutions their communities needed to prosper and lessen dependence.
With a background in education and training, I feel strongly that the sustainability of an individual's, as well as a community's, development stems from ensuring that the training and development opportunities they obtain address the particular issues they want to overcome. Communities can also prosper by sharing learning and I feel strongly about the value of bringing people together to establish sustainable learning communities. I'm excited by the training possibilities for the communities Blossom Africa supports.

Sarah Vaile

I'm Sarah and am really excited to be a trustee of Blossom Africa. I am both personally and professionally committed to supporting people to both own and find solutions to the challenges they face. I strongly believe that with support to believe in themselves, to increase in confidence, to be inspired and with some practical assistance, people have the natural capacity to do this! I am totally committed to the power of community.

I visited Bunumbutye in 2012 and spent time visiting villagers and projects and finding out more about life in Uganda. I fell in love with the country and the people and feel we have a lot to mutually share - it is not a 'one way street'!

A bit more about me... I was born and grew up in Wales where I currently live. I love to travel, read, exercise and spend time with friends and family. I founded a charity called Recovery Cymru (a self-help, mutual aid recovery community for people overcoming alcohol and drug addiction) a few years ago and I hope to be able to bring some of the skills I've learned along the way to Blossom Africa. You can read more about Recovery Cymru at www.recoverycymru.org.uk.

Catrin Cassidy

In June 2011 I spent a month at King's Primary School in Bunambutye. During this time I predominantly stayed at the School with the teachers and as a result of this, got to spend a lot of time within the community. The one thing that really stood out to me during my time there was that, despite the difficulties faced by so many families within the villages, I was overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that I experienced within these communities.

It was through this trip to Uganda that I met Aimee, who kept me informed of her further travels and work carried out in Uganda. When I was asked to be a Trustee for Blossom Africa I felt a real honor to be able to get involved and look forward to developing the organisation.

Catherine Moulogo

I’m Catherine Moulogo and I’m honoured to join the team of trustees at Blossom Africa.

Based in Cardiff, I work for a Welsh environmental charity and am passionate about our environmental education and active citizenship work.

From my experience of working in sustainable water management in the South Pacific, I recognise the importance of empowering individuals and groups to tackle the challenges they face within their own communities. I look forward to playing a part in the development of Blossom Africa, supporting on-the-ground action in communities in Uganda.

Yvonne Forsey

I’m Yvonne and I’m very pleased to become a trustee of Blossom Africa. I recently retired from the Open University and I hope to be able to make a contribution to the lives of others in a different way to my working life.

Originally from Ilfracombe in Devon, I now live in Newport, having studied in Bristol and Portsmouth and then working in Bristol, Newport and Cardiff. Most of my working life has been either computer programming, computer support staff or teaching Computing and Mathematics.

I have been involved with a charity called Asylum Justice and my local running club for a number of years. I was also elected to the Community Council in 2012 and this has given me an insight into local community issues.

Over the past 20 - 30 years I have watched many programmes about poverty in Africa and I have been disappointed that all I could actually do was to make donations to responsible looking charities. I always felt that this was so inadequate compared to the work that needed doing and I promised myself that when my children were grown up I would do something more to help rather than settle into a comfortable retirement. When my son went on a gap year trip to Africa, I was jealous. Now it’s my turn for a gap year or two and I want to use my skills and knowledge to help a different group of people.

Solava Ibrahim

I am Solava Ibrahim and I am a Lecturer in International Development and Director of the MSc in Poverty, Inequality and Development at the Institute for Development Policy and Management at the University of Manchester. I am also an affiliated lecturer at the Centre of Development Studies at the University of Cambridge and was a research fellow in Global Poverty Reduction at the Brooks World Poverty Institute and the Chronic Poverty Research Centre at the University of Manchester and have also worked as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the American University in Cairo. I hold a PhD and MPhil in Development Studies from Cambridge and an MA in Political Science and BA in International Relations from the American University in Cairo. In Egypt, I previously worked for the United Nations Development Programme, Arab Women Organisation and Arab Reform Forum. My main areas of specialisation are human development, poverty reduction, political transformation, gender, political Islam, governance and grassroots democracy in the Middle East. My publications include the recent co-edited book The Capability Approach from Theory to Practice and I have also published articles in Third World Quarterly, Oxford Development Studies and Journal of Human Development and a book monograph entitled: ‘The Role of Local Councils in Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Egypt’.

Clare Sage

I’m Clare Sage and I am very excited to be a trustee of Blossom Africa - Since completion of my degree in Development Studies I have wanted to be more involved in a charity that is making a positive impact within a community in Africa. I have wanted to support a charity that has a hands on approach, that considers, engages and discusses options with the community members first and then implements them with their continued involvement and support.

Through my voluntary work, education and administration skills I hope I can bring a wealth of knowledge to Blossom Africa to help support their work further.