New Brunswick Writers and Laubach Literacy New Brunswick

Hello Marilyn,
Many thanks for meeting with me on Friday morning. It was so encouraging to hear from you and Noeline that there is a definite interest in your helping the cause of literacy in New Brunswick.
One of the contributions we discussed was the possibility of your members being interested in writing for the Focus on Literacy column that appears every two weeks (usually on a Tuesday) in the Times & Transcript newspaper. The articles of about 750 to 800 words relate to any issue that focuses on literacy -- individual stories, socio-economic impacts, opinions, "what literacy means to me," etc. I am attaching a sample of a story about one of our students that was written by Wendy Kitts earlier this year.
Please let me know if any of your members are interested in contributing to the column so that I can put together a schedule. Articles will have to reach me no later than the Friday before the Tuesday publication date. I will confirm the dates with you when you have some idea of your members' commitment.

Regards,
Peter

Behind the faces in the Laubach Literacy campaign – Part 3

BY WENDY KITTS

Two years ago Margaret Lutes was canvassing money in Fredericton for Laubach Literacy - the volunteer non-profit organization that taught her to read at age 42 - when she encountered a woman she will never forget.

"I knocked on a door and a woman said to me, 'Oh, is there still that many stupid people in New Brunswick?' and I went, 'they are not stupid, they are trying to learn to read and write' and I'm thinking, 'I'm one of those stupid people'. That was killing me inside, I wanted to get out of her door and never look back. I was horrified.

I saw her the other day and I thought 'oh, has she seen the commercial? Does she realize I was one of those stupid people?'

I despise that word stupid. Nobody,” the Douglas woman emphasizes, “is stupid. I raised five kids, five grandchildren, own three homes and cars…this is the face of someone who can’t read.”

Margaret in fact, is one of four faces ages 19 to 63 featured in a current television campaign for Laubach Literacy who reveal that up until recently, they could not read.

Branded a “bad kid”, Margaret sat out her last school years at the back of the class, ignored. Though she was willing to go to what the students referred to as the “stupid” room for extra help, Margaret was told she didn’t have a problem.

“I was a child struggling with bad teachers. I begged for the help. I didn’t fail,” she says forcefully, “they failed me”.

By grade nine at fifteen, Margaret dropped out of school, marrying young.

“I ended up in a very violent marriage, very violent marriage,” Margaret emphasizes, “and then ended up as a single parent at 26 raising five kids”.

Margaret spent most of her adult life ashamed to admit her secret.

“I kept a phoney face - a false face. I didn’t want my children to know. I couldn’t read a bedtime story. I read pictures.”

Then one day Margaret revealed to her husband’s (second) boss’ wife that she couldn’t read. The next day the woman gave her the phone number for Laubach Literacy.

“I no longer cared what anyone else thought. I wanted to learn for myself.”

Margaret is now working on her General Educational Development (GED) diploma which turned out to be the fight of her life.

Margaret refused to pay the $1600 GED fee charged by the community college feeling she is owed a grade twelve education.

“Everybody has the right to learn. I feel very strongly about that. I am entitled. I have the right as a Canadian citizen. They give people in prison the right to an education. It should be for anybody but I don’t have that right.”

Margaret continued to show up for classes making “pretty good marks” until they finally agreed to cover her registration fees.

“I fought and I fought hard. I think I was trying to make a stand – no, I am a Canadian citizen - you let me fall through the crack in the first place – you’re NOT ever going to let me fall through the crack again, or anybody else.”

As Margaret gets ready to write her exams, she is positive about her future.

“I will make it. I am no longer going to allow anyone to stop me. I have hopes and dreams for myself and have hopes and dreams for others out there. I’m not ashamed anymore. I will never be ashamed again.

I will fight until I can’t fight anymore. I want to see the literacy rate change dramatically. I am going to make sure I do the best with everything it takes in my heart to make changes for as many people as I can.

For every time a person speaks freely, that can open the door for one more person. By changing my life that has changed my children’s life, and my grandchildren’s.”

And one of the most rewarding changes with her grandchildren has been that she’s able to do something with them that she was never able to do with her children - read bedtime stories.

‘It’s amazing. It’s a feeling that couldn’t be bought.”

Wendy Kitts is a freelance writer in Hillsborough and the coordinator of the YMCA Peer Youth Tutor Program at Forest Glen School. More information on literacy programs, tutoring and training for all New Brunswickers is available from Laubach Literacy New Brunswick at 384-6371 or 1-877-633-8899. In the next column, Andrew Caissie’s story, that of another student who fell through the cracks.