Patricia Fleming

My name is Patricia Fleming, but most people call me Pat.  I live in Guelph, Ontario and work in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, at the University of Guelph.  I have been with the University for over 19 years and I volunteered for Leave for Change because I felt the need to see if I could help out other people with the knowledge I have gained over the years. 

In my past volunteering, I was Snowy Owl to many Girl Guides, and eventually became the Commissioner for our area.  I loved sharing experiences with them, hiking, swimming, camping, crafting and singing.

I have lived from one side of Canada to the other, and worked in many different offices.  I like variety, and have been in government jobs, pipe cleaning, gold mining Companies, grocery stores, retail, printing and bookbinding.  Ask me about what a paper stretcher is?

Each time I changed professions, I needed more education, so I’ve also added courses along the way.  Most of my experience is in office administration but when computers looked like they may be around for a while, I decided to go back to College and get a diploma in Electrical Electronics.  I specialized in Telephony, but instead of climbing telephone poles, I decided it was more comfortable to be inside working on computers.

My volunteer assignment as an IT Specialist will be to assess and evaluate the current internet infrastructural system at the Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) office in Accra, Ghana.  I believe that I can offer help in this area since I’ve been updating websites and teaching computer skills for several years.

I look forward to the challenge of being in a new Country, learning about the NFED organization, and meeting new people.  I hope that I am able to make an improvement in their lives.