Having studied a commercial course at school, Patricia left at 16 and her first job was

in a Bank.  She then married and had 3 children.  Husband Peter started his own

Architectural practice and Shelagh became the office secretary until she retired.  In

2005 at the Rotary District Conference, they heard  the U.K. Director of Mercy Ships

who gave a talk and then asked for groups of Rotary members nationwide to

undertake and help build an extension to the Women’s Fistula Hospital in

Aberdeen an area of Freetown, Sierra Leone.  Shelagh put her name forward and even

though she is not a Rotarian was accepted on the Rotary 1250 District team of 19

people and had a very busy, hot, tiring but wonderful time in March 2006.

Since then she has been to Africa almost every year, carrying out voluntary work on

various other projects.  She has been helping at ‘The David School’ since

2010 and that will be the theme of her talk.