Dr. Prudy Nelson & Dr. Francis M Jeffries
Dr. Prudy Nelson has devoted more than 30 years to humanitarian service, providing medical care and public health leadership in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. Her work has taken her to more than 15 countries across Africa, Asia, Central America, and the Caribbean, where she has cared for refugees, disaster victims, and underserved families while fostering hope and international goodwill.
A pediatrician and public health professional, Dr. Nelson founded Helping Hands for Vulnerable Children and later the Welfare Organization for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (WOOVC) in Uganda, where 34 students are currently being supported from primary school through university, with plans to build a 400-student school. She also serves Rotary through Global Grant site evaluations and as a technical advisor for international projects. Dr. Nelson’s lifelong commitment to compassion, education, and sustainable service exemplifies Rotary’s ideal of Service Above Self.
Dr. Francis M Jeffries was among the first women to join Rotary, in 1987, belonging to a California club for many years and then to the Rotary club of the Bridgewaters in Massachusetts, District 7950. Fran was very active directly and via a grant to address literacy for imprisoned women in South Africa. She has hosted educators from South Africa and Russia to visit the U.S. and share in global dialogue. Working with a local university, she helped provide a program of sustainable water to Cambodia. She spent a semester in Bangkok,Thailand, in 2015, as a Peace Fellow and continues to meet with other Peace Fellows and be involved with UN Peace activities. Fran has served as an ambassador for ShelterBox, making presentations locally and at Rotary International Conventions. She continues to involve local Rotarians in civic activities and to make the local community aware of Rotary’s objectives. Her sustained work at all levels of Rotary, especially with the youth, truly makes for lasting change.
Dr. Frances M Jeffries was among the first women to join Rotary, being inducted into the Turlock (CA) Rotary Club in July 1987. She has also been a member of the Clayton-LaDue (MO) Rotary Club and is currently a member of the Rotary Club of the Bridgewaters (MA, D7950). Fran has been active in all Rotary activities but especially those involving international service. In 1996 she received a Rotary Volunteer Grant to implement an adult literacy project in northern Ethiopia (Tigray), the purpose of which was to ensure full participation for all in the government and economy. In 1998 she became the Project Monitor for an adult literacy project in in South Africa (Kwazulu Natal) involving 65 sites, including two prisons. Each was unique to the community it served and was focused on engaging all citizens in stabilizing their communities. She also assisted in the development of the adult literacy component for the Water for Cambodia project and expanded that to include university faculty and students. Since 2000, she has served as a ShelterBox Ambassador.
She consistently applies her knowledge and skills related to organizational and systems change to peacebuilding within Rotary as well as with other organizations, especially those focused on the abolition of nuclear weapons. This often means having difficult discussions while at the same time working with others to define the roles which each individual and organization is best suited to act on. These conversations often begin by simply convening and connecting, getting together, and agreeing that the impact, the outcome, of our work together is sustainable peace.