Last year, Sally’s story ‘On My Dirty Knees’ was published in our 2019 anthology, Papa’s Shoes and other stories of life. It’s the story of how Sally found a Prickly Guinea flower under a clump of invasive grasses in her Adelaide Hills garden, and how this led her to become one of the directors of A Rocha Australia, a Christian conservation organisation.

A bit about Sally:

I’m originally from UK, married to Doug Shaw (from Queensland) and have three young adult children. We live in the Adelaide Hills and are linked to the Stirling Anglican parish.

From 1984-86 I worked as a nurse/midwife in the Cambodian refugee camps in Thailand. In 1988 I moved to Cambodia where I worked in mother/child health and community development with World Vision. I later established a local NGO using improvisational drama to build self confidence in people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

I moved to Adelaide  in 2007, and since then I’ve studied Creative Writing, Education, and Christian Ministry. Currently, I’m focusing on designing and running a series of workshops on the biblical and practical ways to care for God’s creation. I also enjoy teaching improvisational drama and drumming. I’m involved with the promotion of Native Bees, Trees for life, Permaculture SA and other conservation work and am one of the directors of A Rocha Australia, a Christian Conservation organisation.

Do you have something you are passionate about? What led you to care so deeply about it? Is that a story of life waiting to be told?

This is the last weekend before Feedback Month ends. Send in your story drafts, and one of our editors will give you feedback on it.

Feature image of a Prickly Guinea flower, an Australian native plant, by John Tann, Creative Commons.