By Kimberly Wallace, HER Magazine
For the past 299 issues, Her Magazine has produced stories of excellence and entertainment but also stories of perseverance and resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Each article, whether it has brought laughter to your lips or tears to your eyes, is a reminder of the ability each of us possesses, to transcend our circumstances and inspire others.
This week, in our 300th issue, we bring you the motivational story of Regiment Corporal Tammeshar Peters.
The modest, hard-working soldier with the Mona Lisa smile, Peters is an example of a walking miracle – a title she proudly accepts. If you happened to be among the throngs of persons on the streets of Port of Spain watching the parade of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment on Independence Day, you may have caught a glimpse of Peters decked off in her ceremonial dress, with her service revolver at her waist, marching in step alongside fellow members of the regiment.
For this daughter of Beetham Gardens, Port of Spain, Peters has become a symbol of success, someone grown-ups in the community could point to as a real-life example of a phoenix that has risen from the ashes.
Long before she joined the T&T Regiment and became a member of the Regimental Provost Staff (RP), which is equivalent to the army’s internal police, Peters endured years of hardship and experienced the truth of the late Mighty Shadow’s words: “poverty is hell”.
“Growing up was hard, not so much because it was the Beetham, which people stigmatise as the ghetto, but because we had a very hard childhood,” says Peters who was the sixth of eight children in a single parent household.
Peters and her siblings grew up in a harsh living environment where drug use was prevalent. Her mother and step-father were both addicted to drugs and she and her siblings were subjected to physical and psychological abuse.
“I remember walking the streets to beg for food, most times barefoot as we typically had nothing available to eat on a daily basis,” she recalls.
Although Beetham has borne the heavy weight of many negative connotations, several residents rose to the occasion and helped Peters in her time of need. When some of her sisters got old enough and could no longer stand the abuse, they left, but Peters remained.
Sherma Wilson, who is intertwined with the Beetham Gardens community, observed Peters in worn-out “boy” clothes, walking the streets barefoot. She was somewhat familiar with Peters’ circumstances and although she lived quite a distance away, she told Peters that she could come to her home for food any day. Another Beetham resident, Joanne Forbes, took Peters in to live with her before she migrated.
Peters vividly remembers going to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) located in Beetham Gardens where the soldiers were always willing to assist, and gradually her interest in the army began to grow.
“Given my circumstances growing up, I never saw myself accomplishing many things,” she said. “However seeing how the soldiers operated, seeing their compassion towards us and their willingness to assist us, in addition to their renowned serious demeanour and constant encouragement, I felt as if they saw something in me that I couldn’t at the time.”
Warrant Officer Class 1 (ret’d) Ann-Marie Daniel took a special interest in Peters. Daniel, who was a private at the time, always believed in Peters and the soldiers agreed that she would make a good soldier one day. She kept their encouragement close to her heart and would mull over their words when life got especially tough.
“When I was old enough to enlist, I answered that call to national duty that was implanted in me by the soldiers at CCC, and I am grateful to them to this day for believing in me,” says Peters.
The training was very hard and many times she wanted to give up. She cried a lot but reminded herself that stepping away from that opportunity more than likely meant going back to her previous situation ; which was not an option. Her instructors taught Peters to use the pain of her struggles as motivation to push through. One of her instructors, Staff Sgt Vanessa Dick (ret’d) gave Peters her fair share of tough love, as most army instructors do, but she never allowed her to give up.
“She encouraged me to hold my head high and reminded me that nothing could break me,” she says.
Peters has since achieved many goals she set for herself; she’s a proud homeowner, a wife and a mother. Her children are all doing well in school; her eldest daughter graduated from secondary school with ten passes and is now enrolled at The University of the West Indies.
“I look forward in the coming year or so to the next stage of my military career which would involve becoming a senior non-commissioned officer and moving from the rank of Corporal to Sergeant,” she adds.
Peters is all too aware that people can become products of their environment if they let it consume them. But she is urging young men and women not to let a bad family situation or negative neighbourhood environment define who they are or determine their outcome in life.
“Always keep pushing, a bad circumstance can be overcome. Never give up and always use your struggles to make you stronger. Strength and perseverance can help you to rise up and out of anything,” says Peters. “By the grace of God and prayer, your destiny is determined by your faith and the power to believe that anything is possible once you work hard, stay disciplined and keep focused.”
