ANNELIES COWLEY

Co-founder, director and complementary healthcare practitioner and consultant of the St. Francis Health Centre in Port Alfred in the Eastern Cape. Born and educated in Austria.  After Trade and Commerce school she qualified as Nurse Clinician and specialized in Paediatrics surgery and sister tutor.

In 1968 she came to Lesotho and worked at the St. Josef’s Hospital.  Following her appointment to the board of the International council for development Aid she proceeded to South America as medical coordinator for the Austrian Council For Development Cooperation, established 5 clinics in remote areas of Ecuador and created a Nurses Training Centre.

In 1975 she returned to Lesotho, continued with a private clinic and later through her husband got very involved in Rotary.  She formed a campaign against Brucellosis, a zoonotic disease which at the time of severe drought was endemic in Lesotho and the Free State.  Through researching successful treatments for the disease she discovered Homeopathy and then proceeded to broaden her skills in the field of Herbalism, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Reiki, Polarity therapy, Energy and Aura work and various other forms of healing.

She became Technical Liaison for the Polio Plus Projects of Rotary International and served on the district committee.  She was twice awarded the Paul Harris Fellowship award for the promotion of international understanding and service to others.

Annelies Cowley was a hobby horticulturist; she had her own landscaping business and nursery and formed the Lesotho Horticultural Society.

In 1991 she and her business partner build the St. Francis Health Centre where she now has the holistic approach to health under one roof and offers detoxification for rejuvenation and the balance of physical, mental and emotional alignment. She created the St. Francis Detox diet which is a very important part of the programme.  Some of her guest’s local and many from other countries in Africa and overseas book a year ahead for their detox stay.  “We are what we digest” she says and “Health is more than just the absence of disease, it’s an embracing of life” (including the diet!)