Meet Our Team
We are a group of 6 who saw an urgent need to help Guinea-Bissau and wanted to use our skills and network to bring change to the country.
About us
Matt Palmer
Matt has worked in IT for over 30 years and for the last 10 has been running his own successful IT consultancy business in London. He has taken part in a number of high profile environmental campaigns at both a national and local level and in recent years has completed two non-stop 100km walks to raise money for charity.
Linda Ruas
Linda has taught and trained teachers for over 35 years in the UK, Brazil and Japan. She has presented at many conferences in Europe, Pakistan and Africa, mainly about global issues in teaching from her Easier English wiki New Internationalist. She has also trained teachers in refugee camps, written diverse teaching materials, and, since 2018, been working with many teachers in West Africa, especially Guinea Bissau, remotely and in person.
Bacar Djau
Bacar is a school director, has a degree in English and is an English teacher. He lives in a village away from the capital, Bissau, and has been working with the community there to help solve various problems with water access, sanitation and traditional agriculture.
Ali Djau
Ali is a school director and has degrees in both English and Environmental Management. He works as a teacher and part-time translator, runs the English Language Teaching Association and several other cooperatives and groups. He has many years' experience working with agriculture and the environment in his village and in Bissau.
Michelle Ruas
Michelle has a Masters in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and has taught programming in England, Scotland and Australia. She works as a software engineer, has volunteered in Sao Tome e Principe and has previously run 2 marathons to fundraise for charity.
Sarah Nesbitt
Sarah is an Accountancy and Finance graduate who is currently working as an Investment Consultant in London. She has experience with non-profit organisations, through her involvement in Enactus, where she was commercial team leader. She helped raise over £2000 to be used to help install solar lights made from recycled bottles in rural villages in India.