A FROME woman who was the first female RAF pilot will start fulfilling her childhood dream this year as she prepares to fly to South Sudan and put her flying experience to use as part of a missionary charity.
Jenny Clarke, who has worked as a chiropodist at Marston Foot Clinic for the past year, will be joining the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) for four years in Juba, capital of war-torn South Sudan.
Jenny, 53, says the move is 41 years in the making, and she feels that her whole life has been building towards this point.
“This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 12 years old,” Jenny tells Frome Times. “I remember at Sunday school we watched a video with Cliff Richard in it about voluntary service overseas.
“I decided then and there that was what I wanted to do with my life. I think every career decision I’ve made since then has been a step towards this. I even chose to practice chiropody because I knew it was something I could use abroad.
“I am nervous because there’s a lot of unrest in South Sudan, but I’m really excited and can’t quite believe I’m going!”
Jenny will manage a team of pilots who fly aid across the country to remote communities in crisis. Based at Juba International Airport, her team will take food and supplies to people in refugee camps and offer an air ambulance to isolated settlements.
From 1991 to 1995 Jenny flew Hercules aircraft for the Royal Air Force, and was the RAF’s first operational female pilot. She has since worked for charities at home and abroad, helping vulnerable people across the world.
She says, “When the aircraft are on the ground they will be my responsibility, and I will be plotting pilots’ journeys and looking after passengers.
“If a passenger goes missing or if someone is asked to do something they’re not authorised to, I’ll have to deal with it. I will also be promoting the charity’s work and working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“It’s going to be a big responsibility but there is a lot of work to do. I’ll be in a guarded compound in South Sudan. It’s the newest country in the world, at six years old, and there are very few proper roads. However, there’s lots of hope and there are exciting things happening at the moment.
“I was approached by MAF while I was in the air force but I wasn’t in the right place at the time. It’s been a long time coming!”
Jenny is raising money herself to help cover her costs – to donate online go to
www.maf-uk.org/clarke
MAF is a 70 year-old organisation which uses planes to transform the lives of isolated communities all across the world.
Marston Foot Clinic in Frome will continue to run as normal when Jenny leaves, with colleagues Demelza Meaden and Sue Birch taking the reins.
