Before the summer of 2009, I wasn’t quite sure where the path for my life was headed.  I hadn’t given my future much deep thought, and instead intended to rely on the “whatever happens, happens” attitude.  That all changed after my trip to Lesotho in May of 2009. At Wittenberg University, Dr. Scott Rosenberg, a history professor specializing in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been taking students to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho since 2003.  He was inspired after his time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lesotho, and has been taking trips back bi-annually.  On my particular trip, I traveled to Lesotho with 40 other students and faculty and performed an array of service oriented tasks.  While there, we built two houses for orphans, constructed 3 playgrounds, painted numerous murals, planted gardens and fruit trees and completed a number of other projects.  However, it wasn’t just the tangible projects we conducted while there that made a difference.  Maybe the biggest thing we contributed was our time.  Simply spending a few hours a day with some children who never receive such attention meant a lot to them.  The one-of-a-kind trip that Dr. Rosenberg creates is unique and life changing, which is exactly what it did for me.  After I returned from my trip, I had the passion to do more and seemed to have a better sense of my life’s direction.  So at the age of 23, I founded BLOOM Africa, with a mission to provide resources to orphans in support of their basic life’s needs through sustainable projects, educational programming and financial support by collaborating with the people of African nations.  BLOOM is an acronym that stands for ‘Bringing Lesotho’s Orphans Opportunities and Materials.’

When founding BLOOM Africa, I wanted to insure that the organization would remain one of sustainability and mutability with the people we intend on working with to improve the lives of orphans.   It is not our intent to enter a region with preconceived notions of what projects we will begin without serious consultation from the people of that region.  We want to help orphans ‘BLOOM’ while working with those who can most directly make this happen.

BLOOM Africa is operated on a volunteer basis, with everyone working out of the kindness of their hearts and passion for justice.  No one receives any pay for any of their work, and all of the money raised goes directly to the projects we are working towards completing.  The passion in each member of the BLOOM Africa staff is a driving force for the organization’s success in the future.

I have many ambitions for the future of BLOOM Africa and look forward to creating partnerships with people and business entities in the United States in the future.  We will be working with the people of Lesotho initially, but have not ruled out possibilities for development and projects outside of the Lesotho region.  The HIV/AIDS pandemic exists all throughout the southern African region, and each day more and more children are becoming orphans.  There are no boundaries to the problem.

I always tell people how difficult it is to convey my experiences in Lesotho and how wonderful the people are there.  By using pictures, videos, and personal accounts we hope to help your understanding of why we are doing what we do.  In time with information provided through BLOOM Africa, you can share a better understanding of the beauty and unfortunate need in the Southern African region.