Alumni Projects

At Northumbria we always want to share the successes of our students. We want to see how they are enriching research, changing cultures and helping communities locally and globally.

Two of our alumnus were on campus and in attendance at an event held by our Disaster and Development society recently. The event was a celebration of students who had studied or study our Disaster and Development MSc.

The Disaster and Development Society (DDS), founded in November 2014, is based out of Northumbria University Student Union and is run by students on the MSc course, with additional support offered by the Disaster and Development Network (DDN). The society aims to enhance and support the learning outcomes of the fields of Disaster and Development, both within Northumbria University and in the wider community.

Martin and Rosie had incredible stories to tell about their work, and their time as a Northumbria Postgraduate. Following their studies, both have gone on to change lives with their dedication, passion and commitment. Our Postgraduate DCCs Callum Stevens, Sarah Whitehouse, Vicki Howe, and Anne Rassbach spoke to Martin and Rosie during the event, and produced the following videos:

Martin Zuch, founder of Mama Buci, a company that build over 150 beehives a day, helping over 7,000 families improve their quality of life.

“The idea for Mama Buci sprung from the ashes of a business venture in Zambia to provide livelihoods for locals by planting banana plantations. The banana project was riddled with obstacles and in the end we lost them. I was determined however not to give up on my mission of providing opportunities for income in the impoverished region of Zambia and to continue sustaining the school we had built. It was through a conversation with my dear friend, John Enright, who was doing missionary work in the area, that he mentioned the potential of commercial bee keeping in the area.”

Rosie Waller is a Programmes Manager for No Strings International, a company which communicates difficult messages to children in emergency zones around the world, through the medium of puppetry. In all the places No Strings works in the world, experts believe that children are better able to thrive if they understand how bad things affect them, and what they can do to help themselves. It might be to do with loss because of conflict or disaster, and how to cope. It might be health related; about diarrhoea, malaria, or HIV. Or how to be safe where there are landmines, or during floods, cyclones or earthquakes.

Working with masters of the original Muppet Show, No Strings assembles the messages these experts give us and turns them into spellbinding lessons played out through sometimes fun, sometimes moving, but always pithy and world class-quality puppet films.

For more information about the Disaster and Development Society, visit their website.