I was born in a very poor part of London , England and came to Australia in 1982. I had no money, but I had an education and a job. I was the first in my family to go past the age of 15 at school, and I went on to get a good honors degree in Environmental Science. I have a good Corporate career, becoming VP for Asia Pacific for an American company, Interact, then CEO of SecurePay. I lost my partner in tragic circumstances in 2003, and that changed the direction of my life.
I started doing charity work through my work at Telstra. We recycled over 10,000 computers and donated them to small charities with technical support, in an operation called Helping Hand. I then ran annual volunteer trips, with each volunteer raising $1500 in order to come, 10 volunteers raised enough money for the locals to build a school, We built 9 schools in Kenya, Uganda and Mali, and 3 medical centers.
On a scouting trip to Uganda 5 years ago I had a bad car crash, suffered from shock, and have been unable to return to Africa since. I left the corporate world 2 years ago to focus on being a poet, and a force for good, mostly through volunteering. I now volunteer as a driver for the Healesville church charity, for the Healesville Sanctuary, and in helping farmers near Corryong recover from the bushfires. I have a 30-year-old dietitian daughter Kimberley with a Masters degree, and two stepdaughters with 3 grandchildren.
