Babette Gallard – a late bloomer, an immature climate activist, a modern-day Canute trying to hold the rising tides, or at least find ways of soothing and slowing them down by changing my lifestyle and helping/encouraging other people to do the same. I work with Rotary, TedX and several different groups, NGOs and NPOS, working towards a better, greener, healthier, thriving, resilient, fairer, cooler and more creative future.
I’m also writer, and a walker, and I ride a mule.
I’ve lived long-term in seven countries, on a boat and in a jungle. My environmental epiphany came at age 60 when I lived in Tanzania, where I managed the construction of a 44-bed maternity hospital called Kivulini.
About Kivulini Maternity Centre
In Tanzania, the main electricity supply is unreliable, fossil fuel-based and supplemented by polluting and inefficient diesel generators. Learning as I went along, I persuaded the financiers to install a stand-alone solar-powered system. The hospital is still fully operational, and I could not be prouder!
Today you will find me in Johannesburg with my husband, Paul, living in a city I love and am passionate about. When I am not writing, reading or fighting climate change, I am riding Matilda, my mule or walking and exploring the city. In 2022 I received my Masters in Creative Writing from Zakes Mda (such an honour) at Witswatersrand University, where I completed my latest book Future Imperfect. I am currently working on my latest book: Verisimilitude.
I also have an amazing daughter, Lucy, who is multi-talented, terrifyingly capable in all situations (unlike her mother) and VERY fit in every sense. Lucy spent most of her life in France but now lives and works in the UK for the Hertfordshire Independent Living Service, which provides a range of services to help older and vulnerable people stay in their own homes.