Making a better life
Literacy key to newcomers' success
By Ned Powers, Special to The StarPhoenix
One adult learner from Laos, one from Sudan and six aboriginal people from Saskatchewan experienced poverty as children and young adults.
Now, as members of a Basic Education 10 class at SIAST, they are sharing their stories with written words, a sign there is still a glimmer of hope in their lives.
Jean Dudley is program head for SIAST's Basic Education 10 and Literacy Centre. Wendy Eddy, who taught students at Radius Community Centre, has been a literacy instructor at SIAST since June 2009.
"Poverty has been a part of the lives of these students and they seldom talked or wrote about the experiences,'' Dudley says. "We wanted to provide an opportunity to move the issue of poverty from the personal level to the social level."
Eddy says instructors, "asked the students to write about anything about poverty that came to their minds. The chance to express themselves has given them a new understanding of life and they all want to improve their lifestyles."
BROKEN-HEARTED, BROKEN HOME
Simone grew up in Laos and came to Canada in 1980.
"My father was a soldier in the French army during 1974-75. When the communist government took over my country, my father had to escape to Thailand and leave the whole family behind. After my father left, my life turned upside down," Simone wrote.
"I became broken-hearted in a broken home. I tried so hard to survive day to day by going out and hunting to find food for my family. I would climb trees for coconuts and thorn trees to get cherries. My mommy found this old broken house that had nothing in it. It was such a scary house but we had no choice.
"I remember lying down on top of some kind of old broken branch with no sheet cover and I was shivering for many months. Most of the time, we had no food or water. Some days we had to eat beetles from the water and grasshoppers from the land. I was always praying that someone would help or save us.
"My family and I escaped to a Thai refugee camp. They ran out of places to stay, so they set up a tent for us for weeks. There was not enough food to eat and no clean water; also not enough blankets for six of us. When it would rain for a few days, the rain would make the ground very muddy. They removed us and sent us to share the space in one big building that had 400-500 people. Everyone used to line up blankets to get their own privacy. We didn't have enough blankets to hook up, so everyone could see us all the time. I wished and prayed to be somewhere warm and safe."
Her family discovered their father had been sponsored by the Mennonite Church to live in Canada. Within a year, the family was also sponsored.
Once in Canada, Simone often worked three jobs in a day, making sure her own children were going to get an education. All of her children have graduated from Grade 12 and one has finished two post-secondary degrees. Now Simone is catching up on her education.
LIVING IN A WAR-TORN COUNTRY
Abraham writes of experiences in Sudan and Ethiopia.
"A personal example with poverty was living in war-torn countries when I lived day to day trying to find safety and food. I lived in a refugee camp in Ethiopia for eight years after fleeing from the war in Sudan. I struggled to survive in the camp because there was never enough food and many people were sick and needed help," he wrote.
"Now I have been in Canada for seven years and still experience poverty. I have been sick for a while and the doctors don't know what is wrong. I feel I can't concentrate in class. I feel weak and tired. There is never enough money to last the whole month or to get proper medical care. There is nothing that will stop poverty on this planet."
GROWING UP WITH AN ALCOHOLIC
Caroline's story was a reflection of a challenging childhood as an aboriginal person in Saskatchewan.
"I think I was nine years old at that time when my mom was an alcoholic. She used to leave us for days, sometimes weeks. At least I wasn't alone because my little brother and sister were with me all the time. I practically raised them on my own when my mom used to leave us. She would tell me not to go to my grandma's place because she would get in trouble by my grandma if we did. One day we had nothing to eat. One morning my little sister and brother were complaining that their tummies were hurting and so was mine," she wrote.
"I kept checking the cupboards and fridge to see if I could find something for us to eat, but all I could find was crumbs, so that's what I fed them. The next day still no mommy. So I got up and got the kids ready. We walked over to my grandma's and right away she knew that my mom wasn't home. She asked if we were hungry. We told her 'No, we're not hungry kokum.' But she would still feed us. My grandma knew what was going on.
"When we were done eating my mom would show up out of nowhere. She would get in trouble by my kokum, then take us home to give us a beating. As years went on and I got older, I left home at 16. I took off with my boyfriend and stayed for about 10 years after having five kids with him. Then I left him. I've pretty much been on my own since then. I always say to myself that my kids are not going to go through what I went through. I love my kids. They are my life; my everything."
NO MAGIC FORMULA
Sam believed he found the magic formula by 12 years of age, but later, he found it wasn't a solution for a real life.
"Growing up as a kid, I watched my father sell drugs, be a drunk, and never be there for me and my brother.
One day a man came over and asked for my dad, but he wasn't home. I knew where my dad kept his stash. I sold my dad's stuff," he wrote.
"I was like a father figure to my younger brother. I used the money for food and clothes for me and my brother. My dad was such a drunk he didn't even know. By the time I was 14, I had a 42-inch flat screen TV and bought a Play Station 3. I was making $2,500 every week. I had three other people helping me sell drugs. I had my own house at the age of 16, my own car, food and brand name clothes.
"I met my girlfriend and she came to my rez and stayed there for a bit. Then one day she told me she was pregnant. I didn't know what to do. I was shocked for weeks. I kept doing my thing selling weed. Then one day my door got kicked in, five guys in black bandanas home-invaded my house. They had a sawed-off shot gun, bats and knives. They took all my money, all my stash. Even that didn't stop me.
"It took me a long time to realize I had a baby coming and I could get killed or thrown in jail for doing this. Then one day, I called it quits. I want to be there for my kids. Don't want them to grow up the way I did. I want to be there for them. Now I'm not selling anything, trying to live a straight life. I am back to school and play with my kids every day."
There were other submissions. Barry told of the experience at four years of age, living in a tent the year-round because the family didn't have a house. Betty told of malnutrition, being hospitalized with tuberculosis, and always having trouble making ends meet. Lorraine also told of the constant struggles of never receiving enough money and running out of food. Evelyn was also a victim of tuberculosis who told of turning to the streets, going to "hell and back" and stealing and going to jail because she needed to survive.
Dudley says SIAST has tried to be a welcoming place for the people to get back on their feet and admits "it really took a lot of courage for them to share their stories."
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