“Feeling Jamaican has never left me.”
Gloria Evans was born in January of 1940 in Kingston, Jamaica. Her father was a tailor. Her parents had nine children, Gloria being the third eldest and the only girl among them. She came to Wales at the age of 19 to pursue a career in nursing.
“I started off in the Anglican Sunday school and then church school…then Denham school but after the hurricane, things changed. Everything was upside down, I had to change schools and things got a bit difficult.… everything was disrupted, my father was well-known but things slowed down a bit, but life went on.”
“My dad came first to the UK, I was 19 when I came here. I always wanted to be a nurse, and God granted me that wish. I came here and studied nursing and midwifery.”
“I did my practical training in Book General Hospital, Shooters Hill, and did my midwifery in St David’s. I was married in 1961 and then moved to Cardiff in 1963… We had three children. Feeling Jamaican has never left me. In the hospital, it was multiracial and the change didn’t worry me. I think I’m a person who just adjusts.”
“I had intentions of returning to Jamaica when the children grew up, but as time went on, sometimes we have to admit our preconceived ideas don’t always work out as anticipated or expected. We have to be willing to adjust accordingly.”
“Looking back, sometimes I felt really isolated and it was the church, the teachings, there were principally naturally and spiritual embed in me despite some tremendous hardships. By the grace of God, I tried to maintain my integrity.
Ganed Gloria Evans yn Ionawr 1940 yn Kingston, Jamaica.
Teiliwr oedd ei thad. Roedd gan ei rhieni naw o blant, a Gloria oedd y trydydd plentyn a’r unig ferch. Daeth i Gymru yn 19 mlwydd oed i ddilyn gyrfa nyrsio.
“Fe ddechreuais i yn yr ysgol Sul Anglicanaidd ac yna yn ysgol yr eglwys... wedyn ysgol Denham ond ar ôl y corwynt, newidiodd pethau. Roedd popeth a’i ben i lawr, roedd yn rhaid imi newid ysgol ac aeth pethau’n anodd braidd... roedd popeth wedi’i amharu arno, roedd fy nhad yn adnabyddus ond fe arafodd pethau, ond aeth bywyd yn ei flaen.”
“Fy nhad ddaeth i’r Deyrnas Unedig gyntaf, roeddwn i’n 19 oed pan ddois i. Nyrs oeddwn i eisiau bod erioed, ac fe roddodd Duw fy nymuniad imi. Fe ddois yma ac astudio nyrsio a bydwreigiaeth.”
“Fe wnes i fy hyfforddiant ymarferol yn Ysbyty Book General, Shooters Hill, a fy hyfforddiant bydwreigiaeth yn Ysbyty Dewi Sant. Fe briodais i yn 1961 ac yna symud i Gaerdydd yn 1963... fe gawson ni dri o blant. Dyw’r teimlad o fod yn Jamaicaidd erioed wedi fy ngadael i. Yn yr ysbyty, roedd llawer o hiliau gwahanol, a doedd y newid ddim yn fy mhoeni. Rwy’n credu mod i’n berson sy’n gallu addasu.”
“Roeddwn i wedi bwriadu dychwelyd i Jamaica wedi i’r plant orffen tyfu, ond wrth i amser fynd yn ei flaen, weithiau mae’n rhaid inni gyfaddef nad yw ein syniadau gwreiddiol yn gweithio allan fel roedden ni’n disgwyl. Rhaid inni fod yn fodlon addasu yn ôl y galw.”
“Wrth edrych yn ôl, weithiau roeddwn i’n teimlo’n unig iawn, a’r eglwys, y ddysgeidiaeth, roedden nhw’n egwyddorion naturiol ac ysbrydol sy’n rhan annatod o fy enaid er gwaethaf caledi ofnadwy. Trwy ras Duw, roeddwn i’n ceisio aros yn berson gonest.”