A Celebration of Women

is honored to Celebrate the Life of this precious soul, a survivor of apartheid, an author, a poet, a caregiver, an activist, a woman leader in so many ways.

WOMAN of ACTION

Monica Clarke

Monica Clarke was born in Cape Town, South Africa in the 1940’s, at the very beginning of the apartheid era. During the 60’s she qualified as a Nurse and Midwife, subsequently studying Law as the political situation intensified in the region. Politically very closely involved with the ANC’s struggle against the apartheid regime, in 1984 she was pressured into leaving the country and moving to London.

Once settled in her new life in Britain, she secured work as a commercial lawyer and met and fell in love with John, whom she married. After six happy years of marriage, John was suddenly struck down by a massive stroke. From a position in which the couple were both earning very respectable salaries, within only two years they were on benefits. Monica had to stop work immediately as John spent a year in acute care and then, when he returned home, she took on the full caring responsibilities.

HER OWN WORDS: “I was born in South Africa under Apartheid. I work to help women and children in South Africa to find a better life. I am an international ambassador for the Saartjie Baartman Centre, a refuge for abused women and children, including refugees, in Cape Town South Africa.

Monica Clarke is a poet, writer and storyteller. Through her storytelling she brings human rights alive. She is the author of several stories, poems and books. Her last book is They call me Hottentot Venus, which is the story of an indigenous South African woman who were trafficked in 1810, thinking she was going to Europe to be a nursery maid, ending up in exhibition halls in London and in Paris.

 
Monica also writes poetry through which she brings human rights alive. She is a keen short story writer.

WHO IS ME? I FEMME SAGE

I woman of Africa, an only self, a soul self.

From a continent of wisdom raped by greed I come, where the womb of Earth Mother forever bleeds from open wounds left by ravaging predators.

In my DNA lies imprinted the hunger Which also runs in the sap of seedlings struggling to survive, where no hope is left amongst the remnants of despair.

Born into the night of Apartheid, I hide my bruises while I proudly give, in the name of the saint whose name I bear, vigilance and care, watching out for sons and daughters struggling through the sharpness of violence and abuse.

I move to the beat, and I sing a song of strength, whose rhythm dispels the discontent of anguish and of loss.

From the Rainbow Nation I come, where, in shadows where the sun can’t reach, are found ancient germs of superstition; which multiply in colonies of darkness and abuse, under clouds of misinformation.

From a continent I come, where the innocence of little girls and boys is sacrificed to the evil of man, who think they can avoid the consequences of their sins.

Old and wise, young and foolish, giving and taking, loved and despised, I walk my path, born of earth’s goodness.

Through the mire I walk, with my head held high, with my little light, determined to shine and to break the cycle of violence and abuse.

I love. I respect. I serve. I fight.

I AM Monica.”

 

Over the next eight years Monica experienced the full range of frustrations, anxieties and enormous difficulties common to most carers, with limited resources for venting her anger. However, she then became involved with her local Career Support Group, an experience which she immediately found both therapeutic and empowering.

AVAILABLE HERE

As she started to resolve her own personal anger, she became able to look more objectively at the wider careers’ agenda. Meanwhile, John and she became closely involved with the Aphasia movement, developing and publishing a communication information pack called ‘Less Words More Respect’, based on her own personal rehabilitation as a carer.

Also at this time she became more closely involved with her local carers’ centre, working more strategically with them and getting involved in carer development. When, in 2000, the Health and Social Care Act resulted in the formation of the Clinical Governance Team, Monica was invited to work on a voluntary basis as the career representative in the Patient Experience Team. She managed throughout this period to balance her caring role with her voluntary work, which ended in John’s death in 2002. Later that year Monica was invited to apply for the role of Patient and Carer Advisor within the Clinical Governance Team, a role she now works in today as an Associate Director, tirelessly championing careers’ rights within the NHS.

Monica was fortunate enough to have acquired some key skills early on in life, but nevertheless she feels that most carers acquire these skills through the sheer volume of information they have to process in their caring role. Her journey was underscored by the very real belief that carers were actual, vocational partners within health, not simply a check-box on a hospital discharge form.

My Passions:
We have a duty to speak up against violence, abuse and prejudice, against demeaning language, jokes, the use of stereotypes, against discrimination of any type or form.

My Challenges:
Knowing how to speak, when to speak

My Vision for the Future:
A world where children are the most revered and protected species on earth

My Areas of Expertise:
Workshops and Training on Equality, Diveristy and Inclusion. Storytelling whcih brings Human Rights alive. Empowering women at grassroots level. Apartheid Stories

My Languages: English, Afrikaans, French

Other Sites I Like:
WORLD PULSE•Linkedin
•Saartjie Baartman Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

A Celebration of Women

welcomes this pure example of Faith in Motion into our Alumni with open arms.

Brava Monica!