PROJECT DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHIES
Anne Whirledge-Karp
Anne Whirledge-Karp received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Pictorial Arts from UCLA and her Masters of Science degree in Education from Mount Saint Mary’s College. She is a Certified Teacher in the states of California and Washington where she has held positions for 27 years as an Educational Specialist, Elementary Classroom Teacher and Teacher of English as a Second Language. She was a co-founder of Bellingham’s ‘Children’s Museum Northwest’ in 1988 and served as President of the Board from 1988 to 1990. She has travelled extensively in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa. She represented A W.I.S.H. as one of 40 delegates with the ‘Center for Women & Democracy’ and US Senator Maria Cantwell on the 2001 visit to Cuba. Recently she has been able to return fulltime to her artwork and is involved with painting using the medium of watercolor.
Sister Patricia Walsh
Born in Ireland, Sister Patricia Walsh has lived in Zimbabwe with the Order of the Dominican Sisters since 1973. She is founder of the non-profit organization Farm Orphans Support Trust that is dedicated to helping AIDS orphans. For more than 15 years her organization has responded by providing housing, food and hospital fees for these young victims as well as offering skills training and education on the prevention of HIV transmission. With limited resources available to her she is establishing sustainable community-based health education and development programs to cloth, feed and house AIDS orphaned children. She also is helping develop income generation projects so that the children she cares for can attend school and support themselves upon reaching adulthood. Sister Patricia leads behavioral change outreach and workshops including Education for Life that enhances the knowledge and experience of health and development leaders. For information on her work with the Hatcliffe Externsion Project see: http://home.pacbell.net/arndherz/dominican_sisters.htm
Johnny Fernandes
Johnny Fernandes was born in Zimbabwe in 1965. He spent the first ten years of his life in Mozambique until the civil war there forced him to return to Zimbabwe. He came to America in 1985 where he completed a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Computer Science at Gonzaga University and Western Washington University respectively.
Johnny worked in the high-tech industry for 15 years before committing himself fulltime to social issues. He is currently helping AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, and planning a music and language school in Cape Verde. Johnny Fernandes resides part of the year in Seattle.
