avg_rating: 3.8
name: Lucy Bushill-matthews
about: Lucy was born in 1971 in Surrey, England. She went to an all-girls school for most of her childhood, before going on to Charterhouse, a predominantly-boys boarding school with a Christian ethos: there she met her first Muslim. She studied Economics at Cambridge University, investigated Christianity and Islam at the same time, and unexpectedly found herself compelled by what she had discovered to make a life-changing decision about her faith. She happened to meet up again with that former schoolfriend: he went on to become her husband. They moved to London where Lucy embarked on a career in a major multinational assessing the financial implications of toothpaste and toothbrushes. She later moved to a pharmaceutical company where she became a Lucy was born in 1971 in Surrey, England. She went to an all-girls school for most of her childhood, before going on to Charterhouse, a predominantly-boys boarding school with a Christian ethos: there she met her first Muslim. She studied Economics at Cambridge University, investigated Christianity and Islam at the same time, and unexpectedly found herself compelled by what she had discovered to make a life-changing decision about her faith. She happened to meet up again with that former schoolfriend: he went on to become her husband. They moved to London where Lucy embarked on a career in a major multinational assessing the financial implications of toothpaste and toothbrushes. She later moved to a pharmaceutical company where she became a Health Economist and was assigned to analyse the intricacies of male erectile dysfunction. Children came along and with them came a change of focus: now working only part-time, Lucy partnered with others to set up and run a Muslim madrasah. For many years, she took large groups of local schoolchildren around the historic mosque in her home town of Woking; she also spoke about Islam to groups of interested adults – to teachers, police, and even the Women’s Institute.Moving to South Africa in 2006 necessitated more changes: since she has been there, Lucy has written her first book, worked for Islamic Relief as Marketing Manager, and now works for Tibb as Social Development Manager developing healthy living projects within poor communities. She remains a regular contributor to UK’s Emel Magazine and – after a few false starts – has found a madrasah to teach in, one which encourages young children to learn about and question their faith in a fun and interactive way, and which includes visits to other places of worship and social outreach projects as part of the learning process. Lucy has 3 children and a kitten who loves walking over the keyboard. ...more