Reading and Writing

This week was the first reading and writing Maa class. I had two eager young mamas show up. Neither of them had ever been to school. It was an honor to be there as they held a pencil in their hands for the first time. Leaning over the table, their brows furrowed in concentration, their hands sweating with the effort, their joy bubbled over and they laughed like school girls. It was thrilling.

 I have two more educated young neighbors who came and helped. I think it was equally exciting for them and I was grateful that I'd started the ball rolling. Perhaps they will take the reigns of the class and run. They are quite capable. I told them without them, the lesson would have been much simpler and shorter due to my limited Maa! So, the class turned out better than I'd hoped. Once the students have the alphabet down and are starting to sound things out in their mother tongue, we'll cover the numbers, too.

Its hard for us that have held a pencil as soon as we could manage to put our fingers together and who've been educated with language, reading, critical thinking skills, memorizing and studying to imagine life without this.  These ladies are smart and skilled at the things they were taught as they grew up, their minds have different patterns that they've built over the years. You and I have been bombarded with images, pictures and words for all our lives, yet these women don't recognize a simple drawing of a flower or butterfly.

 I want to teach my neighbor ladies to read and write because I see it as an opportunity for their empowerment and sense of accomplishment. I want them to be able to read comfort and encouragement in their own Bible.  These women hardly own a thing of their own.  Their personal things are kept in a metal chest about 1.5 'x 3' x 1' with a small lock on it.  This is their only privacy and personal ownership in the world. Their bodies, their house, their lives belong to their many children and their husband. They are literally bought as young teenagers from their fathers and immediately sent to build a home of mud and sticks on the compound of their new husband.

If just one of these women begins to get a handle on reading and learns that she is not just a possession with the mind and respect of a child, but that she is a valuable, capable adult who can affect her world positively, this venture will be successful.