Wednesday 18 November 2015: Miss Naomi Scott: “Portraits”
The President welcomed Miss Scott, daughter of club member, Harman Scott, and a former pupil of Omagh Academy. After graduating from the University of Lancaster Naomi worked with a Danish Development Agency in Africa before being recruited by the United Nations to work in their aid programmes in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. During this time she met many famous and fascinating people who left a lasting impression on her. In her talk entitled “Portraits” Naomi recounted meeting, among others, President Bill Clinton, Colonel Gaddafi, Robert Mugabe, billionaire Nikki Oppenheimer and Gracae Machel, widow of Nelson Mandela. Devoting a few minutes to each, she described how their private persona often differs from their public image and related how kindly Colonel Gaddafi was to the group of young people she was with when she met him and how much she had admired Robert Mugabe in the early days of his Presidency. She admitted having been bowled over by the infectious charm of Bill Clinton. Naomi talked with respect and affection for others whom she had met – philanthropists, games wardens, church workers and local politicians many of whom had been through tough times and dark days. She was thanked for her enthralling talk by Club Member, Oliver Loughran.