MAKEDA Charles endured a lot of abuse from childhood to her early twenties. She suffered verbal, physical and even sexual abuse at the hands of a close family member.

But she says she has come out of the situation stronger than ever, and hopes to become a social worker to help others in similar situations.

Charles, now 35, was born and raised in TT, but moved to the US at ten. She attended the Siparia Girls’ RC Primary School, then different primary and secondary-level schools in the US when she moved there.

She has a degree in psychology from Nyack College (now Alliance University of Social Work) and her master’s in social work from Long Island University.

She initially lived with her mother and father in TT, but lost her father to cancer at six, and her mother moved to the US sometime after.

“I lived with my grandmother for a few years until age ten, and then I came to America.”

One of her older brothers also migrated.

Charles’s mother had remarried by the time she went to join her, and she was convinced her mother was living a better life.

[caption id="attachment_1115691" align="alignnone" width="600" alt="" height="800"] Makeda Charles suffered verbal, physical and sexual abuse from childhood to early 20s.. -[/caption]

But: “As soon as I came to America, my stepfather picked me up at the airport, and when I got home, I was exposed to all the domestic violence happening at home.”

She said he would verbally abuse her mother, even while she was pregnant.

“It was difficult, because in that situation, you want to report it, but you’re still very scared.”

She said the fear was very real even though the abuse was not being inflicted on her. Unfortunately, that soon changed.

“There was a time my brother and I were lying down in a bunk bed and he (their stepfather) overturned the entire bed just because he bought it, and he said he hated us.

“He would also be yelling at my brother, who loved playing music. But whenever he played music, he would tell him to turn it off.”

She said whenever her stepfather disciplined her and her brother, he would do it in “an out-of-control way” and curse them. He even threw juice on her another time.

She said she was also sexually abused. She recalled feeling helpless and was afraid to tell her brother and mother. But then: “At 12, I told him whatever he was doing to me, he couldn't do that to me any more.”

[caption id="attachment_1115689" align="alignnone" width="768" height="1024" alt=""] Domestic abuse survivor Makeda Charles has a degree in social work from Alliance University of Social Work and a master’s in social work from Long Island University.  -[/caption]

But she still tried to get some help from social services for the other types of abuse her family had been enduring.

“And like later, at age 15, I had got involved in an organisation called Summer Search here in New York in America, and they decided to help me by confronting my family.

“They invited my stepfather and my mother to come to a meeting, but my stepfather decided not to