Bjorn Burke. Staff Reporter

At 25 years old Devi Seitaram has had to overcome many challenges to build her dream, one which led her to Jamaica four years ago.

Despite her small frame, she has managed to fight many odds in life to become successful. A budding journalist and producer at Nationwide 90 FM, her dreams of becoming a journalist were birthed in the most unlikely of places.

"I first wanted to see my name in the newspaper when I was eight years old. I read a lot as a child, but coming from a poor rural family in Berbice, Guyana, there wasn't much expectations of girl children other than getting married to preserve the family honour," she said, noting that she was only expected to do household chores.

Her transition from primary school was nothing short of remarkable. Her father, who she says noticed her abilities, spent nights with her doing homework and reading the dictionary. The family's dreams of her succeeding at the then Common Entrance Examinations were realised when she was awarded a spot at the top school in Berbice, the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.

Segregation

But the excited and bright young Seitaram wasn't prepared for her new school environment.

"My parents didn't have much really. I became conscious of my race and class. Here I was a poor girl whose father rode her on a bicycle a mile and half everyday, while the majority of the class were children of the upper echelon of society," she said, adding that this was when she was exposed to segregation.

While there was progress at school, her family life deteriorated with her father physically abusing her mother causing her mother to leave the family home for almost two years. That led to Seitaram taking on a parental role for her three brothers.

Many days were spent selling at the market or working at a haberdashery store in a nearby town, New Amsterdam. Despite this, she says she was determined to finish school at any cost.

"My family made shopping bags for a living, the bag that rice comes in. I remember one time I went to sell at this market and a man took my money away and he said to get it back I had to go to a house nearby for it. I was very afraid and I went home without money and my father beat me because he thought I spent it on some nonsense when the family needed it for food," she said.

Eventually, she went to live with her mother, but that was not a good decision since she was almost sexually assaulted.

"My stepfather tried to hurt me several times, but no one believed, not even my mom. That was hard. I was very vigilant and I told one of my younger brothers who always shadowed me wherever I went to 'protect' me," she said.

By fourth form, a striving Seitaram, who failed a grade because of absence from school, was very determined to complete high school. It was an unexpected incident to concrete her dreams of becoming a journalist.

In an attempt to fight the racial segregation of her class, she wrote the school's principal and head of department to protest the segregation. "I felt it was unfair. The poor and black children had to be out in a noisy cafeteria, while the others chosen by the teacher were in the classroom. I remember clearly when I wrote the letter, it got around the teachers' room quick. The teacher nothing short of cursed me. But I never backed down. I was equally entitled to a fair education."

Despite the odds of high school and nearly being shot by armed criminals, while going home from school one afternoon, Seitaram successfully completed the Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examinations (CSEC).

She eventually attended the University of Guyana and at 17 years old landed her first journalism job as a reporter/news anchor at Little Rock Television Station in Berbice. She was, however, unable to write examinations in her last semester due to financial constraints.

It wasn't long before she landed a job at the Guyana Times and Television Guyana. But this country bumpkin was in for another rude awakening, as she struggled with presentation and pronunciation because of her strong Berbice accent.

Tertiary education

But it was the yearning to complete tertiary education that drove her.

"It was in Miami on a journalism workshop I met several journalists, including my mother figure Erica Virtue, fellow journalist, who sparked my interest coming to the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication at the University of the West Indies to study."

At UWI, she did a diploma in Media and Communication, and despite challenges - financial and the death of her father - she eventually did a degree in the field. Eventually, she was granted several scholarships, including Nationwide 90 FM where she also did her internship.

Although living in Jamaica was different from being in Guyana, Seitaram says her journey was blessed with many helpful persons as well.

"While on scholarship, I couldn't find work because it's hard for university graduates to find jobs everywhere. But I did what I could. I started making roti for a lady who managed the scholarship fund I was part of and eventually I started taking orders from Guyanese and Trinidadian students. I also worked on campus as a teacher's assistant, and later I had a part time job at HYPE TV that really helped so I took care of myself."

But between her love for journalism and country, it was a tough decision to stay and work in Jamaica.

"I love being here. The people here inspire me. I see myself in a lot of people and it feels like family because we all have that one thing in common, we're struggling to make it," she said.

Seitaram will be graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism later this year.