Tameya Brown turns pain into purpose with debut book

WESTERN BUREAU:

At the age of 11, Tameya Brown experienced a deeply distressing violation of her innocence by someone her family knew and trusted. Now as an adult, the Salt Spring, St James, native has decided to share that painful chapter of her life in her book, A Touch of the World but More of Christ.

In Chapter Three of the book, Brown describes the confusion she experienced when the person who made her feel uncomfortable was someone her family had welcomed into their lives.

“My body responded with tension and unease, and a resistance formed within me, signaling that what was happening did not fit within the sense of safety I believed surrounded me,” she wrote.

She further reflects on the difficulty of reconciling her discomfort with the trust her family had placed in the individual.

“Because he was someone my family trusted, my young mind struggled to make sense of the contradiction. The man who was welcomed into our home could not easily be placed beside the discomfort I felt,” she stated, in the book she recently launched at the Salt Spring Baptist Church, using her personal journey through childhood trauma and faith to encourage young girls who might feel rejected, overlooked or defined by painful experiences.

“I was afraid to share this because of the criticism, the backlash that would come shortly after talking about the hard things,” she said, explaining why revealing the experience was one of the most difficult parts of writing the book.

DON’T BLAME CHILDREN

Brown said her experience highlights the need for safe spaces where children can speak about abuse and be heard without being blamed or judged.

“There was no safe place and still no safe place for children to be listened to, heard, and acknowledged,” she said.

She also challenged the tendency to blame girls and young people for the abuse they experience, stressing that children should not be held responsible for the actions of those who harm them.

“Though I cannot stop molestation, I can educate young people with my experience and how God would allow me to step away from that identity that was introduced to me from a tender age,” she said.

Growing up in Salt Spring, where crime, violence and economic hardship affected many families, Brown said her faith helped her navigate difficult experiences without allowing them to determine her future.

CHILDREN IN STATE CARE

“I could’ve blamed God and used my experiences to create a barrier between me and God, but I recognise the presence of God even in the midst of the mess,” she said.

Brown is particularly concerned about children in residential care and other vulnerable circumstances, who may be labelled as troublesome because of behaviours such as smoking, without adults adequately considering what they might have experienced.

She believes parents and caregivers must look beyond the label of a “bad” child and seek to understand the circumstances contributing to the child’s behaviour.

Through her book, Brown hopes to encourage families, churches and communities to provide children with the guidance, understanding and support they need to heal and grow.

For Brown, the message is both personal and spiritual: a painful experience may become part of a person’s story, but it should never be allowed to determine that person’s worth or destiny.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com