James was born in Surrey in 1970, and grew-up in Brighton. He attended the University of East Anglia where he read Pure Mathematics. After graduation James worked for a couple of years in the Finance Industry before taking the opportunity to spend 18 months travelling through India, Asia and Australasia. Upon returning to the UK in 1996, James worked in the city of London as a Risk Manager for several Investment Banks

Following a life changing holiday to Uganda in 2004 and seeing for himself the poverty and difficulties facing the people of East Africa, James resigned as Vice President of Merrill Lynch and became a full time volunteer at Sanyu Babies' Home; a registered NGO (Non-government organisation) caring for orphaned, abandoned and destitute babies and children.

His role at the Home included looking after the daily needs of the babies and working closely with the Ugandan staff to ensure the babies always received the best levels of care possible. He worked closely the Ugandan administration assisting them with the Home’s financial and accounting procedures. He was also responsible for developing 'income generation' and 'expense reduction' projects to help Sanyus achieve long term self sustainability, ensuring the Home continues to provide the essential love and care for all their babies.

As time went by James also started to assist other Ugandan charities and community projects working with needy and disadvantaged children. It was at this point the idea for Mikwano Children’s Trust Uganda came into fruition.

Rachel was born in and brought up near Oxford. A number of years after qualifying as a solicitor, in 2006 she spent almost a year in Uganda. There she volunteered at Sanyu Babies' Home, caring for the collective and individual needs of the children. She also provided technical assistance to the Uganda Law Society on human rights and good practice. This necessitated extensive travel within Uganda and helped her to gain a better understanding of local cultures and practices within the country.

It was during her stay Rachel and James decided to set up Mikwano Children’s Trust.

Jenny has recently retired after 40 years of working for the NHS. She trained as a nurse at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London and then as a midwife. After marrying and having two daughters, she worked as a district nurse and midwife in Buckingham until the death of her elder daughter in 1980. She then moved to Northumberland, remarried, had two more children, and has worked for the same practice for the past 24 years, initially as a midwife and then as a district nurse.

Jenny first visited Uganda in 2006, a visit which left a lasting impression. While she was there, she visited and volunteered at several of the places that were to become our projects. She returned in 2008 and helped in the review process of some of these, and instigated some new ones. She has a special interest in children's cancer. Jenny returned to Uganda in December 2009 and January 2010 when she continued monitoring some of Mikwano's current projects and assessed the feasibilty of some new ones. Her most recent visit was in February 2011 and she wrote a blog about her experiences which you can read here.

Graham is a Chartered surveyor with Carter Jonas LLP based in Oxford and London, specialising in agricultural estate management, planning and development. He has recently retired from the role of Partnership Chairman after thirteen years service. He has a wide experience of Charitable and Family Trusts and believes that his professional skills will assist in the management of Mikwano.

Graham is a frequent visitor to South Africa and Zimbabwe and has recently returned from Uganda and Rwanda when he took the opportunity to visit the Sanyu Babies Home and a number of primary schools.