Blossom Inc fights for sexually abused children

A chance, somewhat unpleasant encounter with a government official in a hair salon, later became an opportunity for Ayo Dalgety-Dean to start working in the area of child rights in Guyana and today she heads a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is known for working with children, especially those who are sexually abused.

Blossom Inc got its name during a conversation with her young daughters as she told them she wanted to form an organisation to work with children to help them blossom. One then asked her why not call the organisation Blossom, and so it is today.

Long before she returned to Guyana from England, Dalgety-Dean, whose background is in finance, knew she wanted to work with children and actually had hands-on experience during her early university years. But she also knew that she did not want to take the social worker path.

Today Blossom Inc employs some 26 staff members throughout the country as it is one of the NGOs that works with the Child Advocacy centres. But were it not for that argument she had in the salon with that official (whose identity she did not know at the time) on children’s issues, maybe her work with children on local soil would not have commenced so soon.

“We became best of friends, you know, after an hour of backward and forward…,” she told Stabroek Weekend. It was only after they left the salon that she was told who the official was.