Terry was born in Toronto and grew up in a rural village in North Pickering Ontario,  the eldest child of unusual  British immigrants who took the whole family to live in Nigeria in the late 1950’s.   She returned to Canada into Grade 7 and after high school she continued her education  at  Western University in London for nursing and later her Masters of Science at the University of Waterloo and  her Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specializing in Infectious Disease back at Western.     She spent most of her adult life living in St Marys, a small town northeast of London,  Ontario.  In her 41 year nursing career, she enjoyed a wide variety of roles, including school nurse, district nurse,  prenatal teacher, itinerant sex ed teacher,  family planning coordinator, and primary care nurse.  She is most passionate about the 18 years she worked in HIV/AIDS care – in education, research, and direct clinical care..   She was one of the first two nurses in Canada to receive her specialist AIDS nursing certification and she was awarded the Canadian national award for Excellence in HIV Education.   She especially enjoyed mentoring nurses in the Caribbean, leading workshops sponsored by Health Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association. 

 

Terry joined Rotary in 2002 – with a family rotary connection already in place -   her grandfather, brother, and sister in law were Rotarians and her daughter Laura was a Rotary Exchange Student in France.  She had already hosted several Rotary exchange students.

 

Terry was particularly attracted to the fact that Rotary is an International organization with a focus on health issues.   She has served on Rotary Polio Immunization projects in India, Burkina Faso and Togo, and Rotaplast surgical projects in Venezuela and Tanzania. 

 

Terry  is now enjoying all the freedoms and benefits of retired life.  She is grateful for all the opportunities and experiences she has had so far in a very full life. She believes we are all one and our purpose is to make the world a better place day by day.  Terry and her husband John have been married for 47 years, and made the smart move to Nova Scotia in 2018. They have 4  adult children and 10  grandchildren.  Besides her strong family ties, Terry loves the Beatles, lavender, cardinals, reading, swimming, gardening, knitting and travelling.  She almost always has a ticket on her desk, getting ready to take off for another interesting destination.   

 

Terry gave a very inspirational talk about one of several Rotaplast mission she has gone on.  This one to was to Tanzania. She described how the Rotaplast organization was founded how they fund raise to send missions all over the world to do Cleft Pallets and lip surgery.  While the surgeons and medial stall have some of their expenses paid volunteers such as Terry cover their own travel costs.

 

Terry described that due to conditions in many of the counties, the teams had to take their own equipment and supplies.  It was long days for the two weeks the mission lasted but it was very satisfying work. People's lives are literally changed by the procedure.  She described it as the one of most satisfying things she has every done. Building smiles is what it is all about.

 

On this trip she did get to see some of country and go on a safari to see the animals.  She would recommend upgrading from tent living if she got to go again!!.

 

There were several great questions from Rotarians and comments from the guests that Terry had invited.  Several club members expressed their thanks to Terry for bringing this Rotary Program to their attention.  Terry was thanked by Esther.