Telisha Williams: On a mission to protect children

Telisha Williams
Telisha Williams

Telisha Williams is a young woman who has made it her mission to ensure the country’s children receive the protection many of them so desperately need and whether it is in church, on the road or at a wedding reception she does not hesitate to represent a child even if it means standing up to the parents.

With preliminary figures indicating that there were over 4,000 reports of various forms of abuse received last year Williams, the attorney attached to the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA), knows the importance of protecting one child at a time.

Growing up in an extended family environment Williams and her cousins witnessed domestic violence and from as young as eight years old, being the eldest, she said, she wanted to protect her cousins from the violence.

A lover of “Walker, Texas Ranger,” an American, action-crime television series, Williams said she always wanted to be like one of the lead characters, Alexandra ‘Alex’ Cahill, who was an assistant district attorney and who helped battered women and their children but was also well known to defend herself.

“I always knew I wanted to work with children to protect them from every harm…,” she told the Sunday Stabroek in a recent interview.

That opportunity came officially in 2016 when she was hired by the CC&PA as its lawyer but years before she worked with children, especially in her church, and with her social work background the foundation was laid long before it became official.

The hours are long, and the victories might be far and few between, but Williams said she sticks with it because of her love for children and the impact her work can have.

Initially, she thought of studying for a degree that would see her having a major in law and a minor in social work, but this was not available and while she got two scholarship opportunities to study overseas, accessing the visas was a frustrating process and she eventually abandoned the effort.

She eventually read for a degree in social work and wanted to move straight into law but because of financial constraints she instead applied for a job at the then Ministry of Health in the area of management training and policy development. She returned to the University of Guyana three years later and read for her law degree and later to the Hugh Wooding Law School where she was successful and was later admitted to the bar.

“Even without money I went [to Hugh Wooding] by God’s grace… scholarships and sponsorship opportunities once and far but it still came and the money I worked for helped me through. And now I have no student debt, thank God,” she said.

Disadvantaged

Initially Williams wanted to work with the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecution as she believed she would have had more scope to work with the disadvantaged, since she had already done two stints with the chambers and dealt with alleged victims of rape and other injustices.

However, she was instead scooped up by a private firm, but only worked for five months as her “mind was not on criminal defence.” What eventually forced her out was when she was assigned to a case where a businessman was accused of sodomising five young boys.

“I couldn’t handle it. I got sick. I did not want to do the case. I was not working in the best interest of my client… [and] that would have been unfair to my client. I even took vacation hoping that the matter would have been finished,” she revealed. But when she returned it was still there and “I left after months with nowhere to go but I still left.”

She remained at home for a few months but was busier than if she had an everyday job as she volunteered her services until she applied for her current position in December of 2015; she actually commenced working in February of 2016.

“It has been emotionally draining but it is rewarding, and I wouldn’t give it up like that,” was how she described her work for the past few years.

Williams said she tries not to personalize her work and to remain as objective as possible but most times it comes down to “plenty prayers and taking a break whenever I can. When I leave the office… I try to leave the problems there and pick them up the next day.”

Her work entails reviewing cases of children who are abused and deciding the best options for them. She is the only attorney attached to the agency and as such her cases come from Region One to Region Ten and see her travelling to some of these areas as well, if the need arises.

Sometimes she also meets the children and their parents and while this is more social work than law, Williams said she finds it quite rewarding. Most times, however, she deals with the case officers and advises on the steps that need to be taken; this can also see applications being made to the court for the child to be removed from an environment that is deemed dangerous.

Those cases are monitored and if there is improvement then the court is approached again for the child to be returned to his/her home and if this cannot be done then the court is asked for the agency to be appointed legal guardian and eventually that child may be adopted.

Training of police officers, teachers and welfare officers on the laws that govern their work is also part of her job description. She also, at times, recommends policy changes.

‘Every injustice’

But while Williams leaves the office work at the office, she is never too busy or too tired to intervene when she sees a child being put at risk because “it bothers me. Every kind of injustice: people have their children selling, children begging, parents leaving their children unattended; basically every kind of injustice that affects children. What I see in the news, every possible thing affects me,” she said.

The ‘Alex Cahill’ in her has seen her stopping and intervening many times and while she does not do it in a hostile manner, she ensures she asks questions. She recalled one instance where she openly challenged a father who was about to spank his son because he was misbehaving at a wedding reception. Williams said it was obvious that the child was allowed to do what he liked at home, but because he was embarrassing his parents in public, they wanted to discipline him.

She attempted to ignore the situation, but eventually she intervened. “I basically told the father if he hits the child ‘me and you would go up the road.’” She later spoke to the adults at the table and advised that the child has to be guided at home so that he can behave when in public.

Many times, she would be at functions and she would see frazzled mothers who are not coping with caring for their children and she would step in and at times have one or two sleeping children in her arms.

“A lot of times I would say come let me help with them… I try not to accuse because many times they don’t know better or can’t afford to do better,” she shared.

A staunch Seventh-day Adventist (SDA), Williams said her advocacy is very present in the church and while she tries to educate members as to the rights of the child and help them to be better parents, she ensures she lets them know that when a crime is committed it must be reported.

Once when she reported a child being beaten by a parent in public until he got marks on his skin, not only the parents but other church members were peeved by this.

“But I told them if it happened again, I would report again because I don’t care who it is, if it is my mother, my father, my sister whomever I would report them,” she stressed. That matter was investigated, and the parents were counselled and even the pastor became involved and as far as she knows it has not happened again.

“I am all for prayers and I pray for them and work for them, but if the law has to take its course then the law has to take its course. You have to balance the child’s interest above forgiveness because if there is no real intervention it is the child who would ultimately suffer and feel insecure for the rest of their lives. I try to educate all the time because I tend to think some people really don’t know better based on our cultural practices,” the attorney said.

She pointed out that the SDA Church has a written policy on child abuse and all forms of abuse and other social ills, and she also educates members on this.

At her home church—Olivet SDA—Williams is well poised to train parents and assist children as she is the Women’s Ministries Leader, Elder with responsibility for Children and Youth Ministries and she is also the Personal Ministries Secretary and the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Secretary. She works in these same areas at the level of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

“But once a crime has been committed, I tell church members their first responsibility is to report it because the welfare of the child is the most important thing. Then you work with the parents to ensure that they can also reach to a point where they can also protect the child,” she noted.

She said the church helped to hone her ‘Alex Cahill’ skills as she been working with the Adventurer Club since she was age 14. Many times, club members slept at her home and when they misbehaved it was she who the parents called to intervene and while the parents are not perfect, she noted that they have a lot on their plates and she would use the opportunity to start working with them.

“Children need more than just food, clothing and a roof over their heads. They need to be loved and appreciated for who they are as an individual. Each is different, unique and valuable in his/her own way. Respect their differences—skills, talents, abilities—whether medical doctor or mechanic; attorney-at-law or artist; teacher or trainer; manager or musician,” the former St Stanislaus College student advises parents.

She has learnt a lot from her mother, Dawn Archer, who is also well-known for working with youths and young adults in SDA church.

And when she is not helping others or volunteering in church or elsewhere, Williams likes to clear her mind through cooking, reading, spending time in nature and exploring this beautiful land of ours.

“I aspire to visit every administrative region of Guyana. To date, while I have visited all except Region Eight, my must-see places are Arrow Point, Shell Beach and Iwokrama,” the child advocate said.