There are some among us who despite their challenges, have never allowed it to define them. This empitomizes Karen Brown, a woman of substance who has charted her own course armed with the knowledge that nothing is impossible with a smidgen of vision, a little determination, a whole lot of common sense and a bucketful of bravery.
Despite being disabled, Brown is on a mission to not only transform the way people regard the disabled community, but also empower them through advocacy, self employment and education. BUZZZ Magazine visited Karen Brown, affectionately known as ‘Andrea’ at her establishment in Mona where she provides clothing to the community at an affordable price. A woman of many talents, her story is the stuff of best sellers as she lives an extraordinary life and still has tonnes more to accomplish before she is satisfied.
At 51, she has been around and then some, her wisdom and legendary insight are reasons her siblings and community members see her as a surrogate mother who dispenses cleverness and knowledge whether you want the undiluted truth or not. Raised in Stanton Row, St Thomas, she was the first of seven siblings and from birth her journey was a turbulent one. “My childhood wasn’t easy as I have brittle bone syndrome so my disability affected my mobility. Maybe it was the embarrassment of having a disabled child but my parents never sent me to school but still I was all over the place and even in the very same school yard that I wasn’t allowed to attend. My dad didn’t accept my disability and often I was verbally and physically abused. I even at times had to fight my siblings so I learnt from early how to stand up for myself. You see my mouth was light so I would answer back and get two box but I don’t think I was facety, I was just vocal, defiant and outspoken and knew when things were not fair. I would get punished for things but when my siblings did it there were no consequences. That caa right!”
Karen always knew that it was not the life God had planned for her. “I knew I was destined for more so I left home at 15 and went to the police station and told them that I didn’t want to stay with my parents.” The police eventually took her to children’s services that brought her to Kingston to the Glenhope Place of Safety for a few months. In May of 1987 she arrived at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre and later went to live at the nearby Cheshire Village, a community designed and built for the disabled. “Professor Golding loved me like his own child. I eventually had five bone surgeries in the 80s to aid my walking so physically I was on the mend but my education was still lacking. Though I never formally went to school, I had taught myself to read and write but the maths and me were never good friends still. One day I decided to finally do something about it and took a bus and headed downtown to Jamaica Commercial School and registered for the next semester of classes to test my knowledge against my peers. I did my exams and gained passes in switchboard operating, typing and filing, though I have never used those skills.”