Sachel Clarke overcomes childhood of pain and abuse

Despite her rough upbringing and the many traumatic experiences she endured, Sachel Clarke has always been determined to defy her odds and be successful.

The women and children's rights advocate told THE STAR that despite her tumultuous past, she has always harboured a steadfast belief in her potential for greatness.

"My mom was a drug addict; she was addicted from she was 16 years old, and that was long before she had me. Being a coke addict, she lived on the streets of New Kingston and sold her body for coke," Clarke said.

She also told THE STAR that her mother had about 10 children but she has never met her brothers and sisters, many of whom were reportedly raised in state-care facilities. Clarke said she was told that she is the second child for her mother. She was raised initially by her paternal grandmother who died when Clarke was six years old.

Clarke said she endured the worst forms of abuse during the next six years of her life as she was sexually and physically abused by a male relative. She only managed to escape his clutches after he was arrested and she was placed in the care of the State at age 12.

"It was a lot," she said, looking back at the dark chapter in her life during which she was abused by persons she trusted.

"The series of situations that happened before I entered into state care took a toll because I went through years of abuse. As a child, I was going through different emotions ... it was just so much things happening," she said.

Clarke was the main speaker at the Child Protection and Family Services Agency's celebratory luncheon for children in state care who were saluted for their outstanding academic achievements earlier this month.

The 26-year-old, who works as an anti-corruption research and data analyst for the Integrity Commission, recalled that during her time in high school, while in the care of another relative, she was forced to navigate difficult days and rough nights by herself.

"They would leave me for weeks at a time, and leave me alone in the house - no food. Water was always there because the water was bridged [illegally connected], [but] no light," Clarke said.

Still, she knew she had come too far to give up, and decided that education was her best route to a better life.

"I was always determined because I was going to Holy Childhood at the time, and I fought a lot to get into that school. At the time I was preparing to do my CXCs, and CXC was important to me. So even though there was no light there, I would iron my uniform at my neighbour house, if I had uniform to iron, and then I would do my schoolwork under the street light," she said.

Clarke graduated from Holy Childhood High School with eight Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate passes and later matriculated to The University of the West Indies where she read for a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Creative Industries degree. She became the first and only graduate of the university's pilot inter-disciplinary programme, thus making her qualified to conduct extensive research on the orange economy.