Keisha Shakespeare, Freelance Writer
Veronica Clarke on her scooter that she rides to work every day. - RICARDO MAKYN/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
AS SHE cruises down the street on her scooter, female motorists and taxi drivers try to bully her off the road. Their chorus of honking horns and shouts of unkind words do not intimidate her. Veronica Clarke may be physically challenged but she certainly knows how to stand her ground.
Miss Clarke was diagnosed with poliomyelitis when she was two years old. As a result she is unable to move around freely without using a crutch or her scooter. Currently, she is the records and documents management officer at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Mona, St. Andrew, and has held that post for the past 17 years. That is 14 miles from her home in Havendale, so she has to leave for work at 5:00 a.m. daily. It takes her an hour and a half to get to work on her scooter.
The early start helps her beat the horrific pile-up of traffic and the blazing morning sun.
Though this routine may seem like a hassle for many, to Miss Clarke it is no bother. Her greatest challenge, however, is the female drivers and taxi operators.
"I remember two years ago when I just got my scooter I was on my way to the gas station to get air for my tyres. While going down Red Hills Road, a woman drove up to me and shouted at me to get off the road. She cursed me and told me that I was in Jamaica and not in America. However, I didn't let that trouble me because I have to go to work and I had to reach on time," she said.
Taxi drivers also treat her with disrespect on the road.
"When I am driving, some taxi drivers pull up close to me and honk their horns for me to get out the way. Some even try to block me with their cars and try to intimidate me but they do not frighten me. I just go around the other side of them."
Even Mother Nature seems to be working against her, as when it rains she cannot drive. She has to take a taxi and that weighs heavily on her pockets. Sometimes what seems to be a perfect sunny day turns into a bleak and wet day. This makes her long drive home a torturous one especially when she has to drive with an umbrella in one hand.
"When the rains catch me on the road I just pull out my umbrella and drive with it in one hand. However, sometimes my hand gets so tired that I have to stop at the sidewalk and rest."
The daily return trip on a scooter is a long and tiresome journey for Miss Clarke. And if she had to change her route it would be even more torturous. During the recent June rains, she was on her way from work via her usual route, when at Charlton's Gully just about one mile away from her home, she realised the gully was flooded. Unable to cross she was about to turn back but a kind man assisted her.
"He asked me why I was turning back and I told him the water was too high. He then decided to assist me assisted by two other men who were passing by. They put my scooter in the back of my good Samaritan's van and then he drove me across. I was thankful because I would have had to take a longer route Shortwood Road that would take me about an extra hour to reach home."
Independent Person
Though she may be physically challenged Miss Clarke is a very independent person and does not appreciate it when individuals think she is incapable of helping herself.
Many people stare when they they see me. Some even ask me if I wash, cook and clean for myself. But I tell them yes. They think I can't take care of myself because I'm disabled. But I can take of myself. In fact I raised three children, two girls and one boy."
At 53, Miss Clarke is currently completing a certificate course in social service at the University of the West Indies. She says that she also planning on doing a degree in same area after she completes it.
