def split_and_clean_text(source_text: str, split: str) -> list[str]:
    """Split the text into sections and strip each individually."""
    source_text = source_text.strip()
    if split:
        sections = source_text.split(split)
    else:
        sections = [source_text]
    sections = [section.strip() for section in sections if section.strip()]
    return sections