About Us

Two lifetimes ago, we lived happy lives in Montreal, Canada. But the travel bug grew in our heart, so we left home and family behind. After ten years together, a three year expatriation in China, and two years of independent travel, it’s not enough. We want more. We want to get involved.

We left Canada on career break in September 2009. We traveled independently through Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, and Mexico. Almost two years later, watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean, we admitted to ourselves that we could never go back. We have seen too much of the heart of the world. We need the smiles of foreign lands, the spices yet untasted on our lips. We want to leave the path of the perpetual traveller, and begin a new life in international development. We want to experience the world by contributing to it, and reinvent our sense of community to include all the people of the Earth.

Mango Blue is our story, from our first step into the world of international development as we try to find a volunteer placement, to what will hopefully become our new life abroad. We want to share our story with you, share our findings and hard-​​gained knowledge, and perhaps inspire you to step up to your dreams and make them happen.

Daniel Roy

Daniel is a professional project manager and communicator, with 13 years experience in the IT and videogame industries. As a producer for Ubisoft and BioWare, he worked on critically-​​acclaimed videogames such as Splinter Cell: Conviction and Splinter Cell Double Agent. He excels at verbal and written communications, including presentations to upper management, technical documents, and translation. He led international teams in Montreal, Edmonton, and Shanghai.

Daniel cares about food, health, social justice, running, and fiction writing. He’s passionate about other cultures, and is energized by the challenges of life abroad. He has visited 34 countries in Europe, the Americas, and Asia, including the Middle East.

Helene Cormier

Helene is a teacher of French and English as a second language. Over the last 15 years, she’s taught children and adults in Canada, South Korea, and China. She taught French at Alliance Française, Shanghai American School, Université de Montréal, and the Ministry of Immigration of Québec, among many others. Helene is passionate about languages, which is reflected in her energetic, happy, and effective teaching style.

Helene loves to travel and learn about new cultures and languages. She enjoys sharing her passion for foreign lands, and challenging people’s perceptions of life abroad. She loves flowers, languages, healthy food, natural approaches to health, and photography. She has travelled to 25 countries, many of them in Asia.

Why Mango Blue?

It’s catchy, it’s easy to remember, and we like mangoes and the color blue. What, not good enough? Let’s try this again.

The Blue Mango is Mother Earth. “Mango blue” is the blue of our delicious, beautiful planet, which we look forward to discovering with as much pleasure as biting into a sweet, juicy mango!