Social worker defies all odds, graduates with distinction

– eyes Master’s, PhD in psychology

By Solomon McGarrell

There has been a series of hurdles and setbacks for Selina Devika DaSilva during her four-year stint at the University of Guyana (UG) while reading for her degree in Social Work.
The hardest of them all, was having to deal with the sad, distasteful and unfortunate childhood trauma of being groomed and molested as a child.
The 30-year-old who hails from Kwakwani in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), reflected on the rippling effects inflicted on her life due to the community not being equipped with a therapist, especially at a time when she needed the support, but this did not stop her from excelling in life.

She mustered the courage and determination to defy her childhood trauma and every other stumbling block along the way with the aim of being there for other young girls who suffered her fate.
“As I started UG it was really evident that I needed to finish. The thought of how many children I would be failing if I quit was burdensome. I knew the trauma that I had suffered because of the lack of therapy, lack of support and I just needed to be a relief to somebody, even if it’s just one person,” DaSilva told Guyana Times.
The young mother of three wonderful children revealed that her being away, caused her marriage to fail. It meant that she had to be away from home but finding a place to live in the city added to the challenges.
She eventually found a place on the West Bank of Demerara, which resulted in her returning home late at night. Her financial backing was also in shambles.
“Everything took a strain on my marriage, managing my studies, and being a wife and a mother were challenging. My husband had to pick up my role as the mother and yet work, which further brought constant dispute between us and later resulted in us separating.”
No matter how heart-wrenching it was, she knew that she had to complete her studies and not remain stagnant in a community in which at the time being sexually molested was prevalent.
She was, nevertheless, optimistic that her journey would not be futile, but rather foster change; save lives, provide therapy she was deprived of and restore hope in a child’s life.

When asked how she managed to persevere and navigate the challenges encountered in her journey of becoming ‘one degree hotter’, she said her best friend who was an ardent church-goer was her greatest support system along with the church.
“My best friend stood beside me through those tough years,” the self-proclaimed perfectionist who graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with a distinction from UG on Saturday said.

Deprived of a normal childhood
As the eldest child of four siblings, she was robbed of the fond moments of leading a normal childhood when she was groomed and molested at a very tender age by one perpetrator who happens to be a family member.
She confided in her mother and a Police report was filed in her hopes for justice to be served.
Just when she thought her life would get better, her wounds were reopened and packed with salt.
“The High Court trial began when I entered secondary school and no counselling, case tracking, were available, since no Child Advocacy Centre (CAC) was available in the community at that time,” she recalled, while adding that due to the trauma of the harsh or raw form of questioning on the Police’s behalf, “family members and my family member lawyer standing in court and telling me I am lying while I’m in the stands. I broke down and the judge did nothing to stop it and I felt like the judicial system failed me as a child,” the despondent DaSilva said.
The jury failed to reach a verdict which ended the case in a ‘hung jury’ which forced the court proceedings to start a fresh.
This was more traumatising and she was at the point where she wished not to relive the trauma.
“I felt like it was me and my mom against everybody and I would not go through with the court proceedings in the first place.”
Coming to grips with what appeared to be an unjust, “failed judicial system”, DaSilva was forced to relive her horrific, inhumane childhood experience by yet another family member.
The matter was again reported and the sexual abuse stopped, but the perpetrator began physically, emotionally and verbally abusing her. This forced her as a teenager to stay with a friend to avoid contact with the perpetrator.
“I was fearful to shower or even be in a towel or sleep since he (the perpetrator) would occasionally force himself upon me.”

“Social work saved my life”
“I started self-harming, and was suicidal for most parts of my adolescent and early adulthood years, which is why I say social work saved my life. An abundance of knowledge has been imparted through training and one-on-one sessions with clients,” the once-troubled teenager who later gravitated to social work posited.
“I wanted answers for myself, that’s why I choose social work. I needed to know how to better help myself, why I keep hating myself so much, why I couldn’t be as confident as I wanted to be, why I couldn’t believe people when they told me that I was pretty, I was talented, I was brilliant, why I always doubting and second-guessing myself. I was doing well academically. I did poetry, sing, dance, I did a lot of things. I would excel in these things, but was still feeling low of myself. I figured the programme that had all these therapists and everybody would help me understand myself and so it did.”

DaSilva has been impacting lives, particularly, sexually abused and by extension, physically abused children through Blossom Incorporated, where she was employed and served in the capacity of social worker for approximately two years.

Brief background on Blossom Inc
Blossom Inc is a Child Advocacy Centre that focuses primarily on children who are victims of sexual and physical abuse. The centre offers forensic interviews – where the victims only tell their story once and have it recorded so as to not go through the trauma of telling their story more than once; court support; case tracking and also offers counselling – Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TFCBT).
The Non-Governmental Organisation CAC works along with the Guyana Police Force to provide these services to abuse victims.

Motivation to abuse victims
DaSilva was awarded a place at President’s College after sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and was awarded a Hinterland Scholarship through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
After five years, she wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exam where she secured two Grade Ones and six Grade Twos. Now she is a graduate of UG with distinction.
“I was somewhat always a perfectionist and that motivated me to do my best and if I can, you can. Do not give in to distorted thoughts and this is not the end. That one horrific incident does not define you,” she urged.
DaSilva hinted that her success story and her goal to mould and change lives would not end at a degree but she will pursue her Master’s in psychology in 2023, followed by her PhD.
She also sees herself establishing a private practice subsequent to attaining her Master’s in psychology.
She thanked God Almighty, for the support from immediate family members, lecturers and friends who rendered their assistance and words of encouragement in her trying times.