Literacy in Nicaragua

There are many things that Ive realized that I have taken for granted, and it only took this trip to make me realize it. I still remember the woman who taught me to read. She was my first grade teacher, Hinda Squires and the impact she had on my life was so profound that when she passed away, I had to attend her wake. In a way I feel I have come full circle: this teacher who gave me probably one of the most precious gifts of all, who used give us UNICEF boxes so that we could take up donations, opened my eyes at an incredibly young age to embracing differences in other people. Now, here I am in a country that according to Jose Adan Silva, is 24% illiterate. The faces that appeared on those UNICEF boxes are very much a reality, and my first grade teacher isnt far from my mind.
My first major was education, before switching to social work. My reasons for wanting to teach were not just for my love of children, but because in a way I felt that just like the Alcoholics Anonymous saying puts it, that in order to keep it, you have to give it away. I wanted to give the gift of literacy and open up the world for other children, as my teacher had done for me. As my grandmother, who passed away this october, had done for many students. She had survived growing up in a foster home, being split from her brother and when she tried to find him, she survived him not wanting anything to do with her. She was a woman who lost her first husband, and raised 5 children on her own before she met my grandfather. She worked, took care of her children, and put herself through college. Its a devotion and determination, a love for education, that I rarely see back at home, but I see it in the woman who cleans the house where we have our classes. I´m not sure what made me switch to social work, maybe its how unappreciated teachers are in our society (not like social workers are any more appreciated), and so while I make that walk that seems like forever to get to the school that I volunteer at, my mind travels to the people that opened my world, which at times seems worlds away.
Last night, while rocking in the rocking chair in the tv room with my host family, I read "A Passionate Memory in Times of Disillusion" by Jose Luis Rocha. He spoke of a time not too long ago in Nicaragua, but of a Nicaragua that you have to look for carefully in order to see it. He spoke of Nicaragua's National Literacy Crucade of the 1980s, where literacy workers, or brigadistas, went into the mountains to teach the people how to read. If the literacy workers only went to teach a couple hours a day, it wouldnt have had the profound effect that it did. Essentially, these brigadistas went to live with their students. But to say that the brigadistas were the teachers and the campesinos of the mountains were the students would be a fallacy. I have had many teachers tell me that they learn from me and the rest of our class just as much as we learn from them. This was true of the Literacy Crusade.Rocha writes that the crusade was organized by a priest, Fernando Cardenal who was inspired by a Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, whose method as described on page one is "the illiterate learn their letters while the literacy workers, or brigadistas, learn about their reality and history and thus 'become conscious'". When I read this part, I wondered if Alba had read this article and then planned this whole trip around this theme, for I have been re-born. Before we went on our camping trip, I kept thinking to myself: you can take the girl out of Long Island, but you cant take Long Island out of the girl. When I look back on my thinking, Im mad for not believing in myself. For just automatically thinking that because I come from an area where Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are currently living, that just because I have parents that are able to provide me with certain luxuries, that I couldnt hack it. What I learned from that experience, is that I can. I also learned that I was stereotyping myself, and that thinking the way I did was preventing myself from growing as a person. At times, I have been my own worst enemy. But just as the article I read mentioned, I have learned more from the children that I am teaching to read, write, and perform basic mathematics. I have learned from them that you can break out of your stereotype-whether it has been given to you by others, or if you have placed yourself there. There is a name for what occurs when you stereotype yourself, which I learned from a social psychology class and its called the stereotype threat. Essentially, its that there is a fear that ones behavior will confirm an existing stereotype of the group that you think you are identified with, and often this fear effects your performance to the point that you fulfill that stereotype. Just the fact that Im still here on this trip is a testament to how my confidence has grown. Before leaving for this trip, I had my whole family tell me that I would be home in two weeks because the lack of air conditioning and the mosquitos would make me want to leave. I was told this so much that I started to believe it.
The second reading that I read was "Down, Down with Adult Illiteracy" by Jose Adan Silva. It doesnt give the year that it was written, but at the time this article was written the statistics were that 24% of the population of 5.1 million were illiterate (p.1) and that "Because of poverty, there are more than 300,000 children working in the streets, and they are not in school" (p.2). He goes on to say that according to Juan Bautista Arrien, a representative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, that "out of every 100 children who enter primary school, only 49 successfully complete sixth grade". I'm not sure if the children that I work with know statistically what the success rate is, but I'm sure they see other children working on the street, and they may very well be working on the street at night. Many of my students are exhausted when they study with me, and the fact that there is no law regarding mandatory education until a certain age and they have the freedom to choose not to go to school if they dont want to, really inspires me. Although I cant read their minds, based on their attendance alone says something to me. They are saying that they are not giving up. When I see these children, exhausted, eating their lunch with a hunger I have never known, because perhaps they dont know when their next meal will be, it inspires me. But it also makes me feel ashamed. Ashamed of the times I have slept until 12pm and missed classes. WestConn is my 4th college, and Im a 26 year old junior. I have learned from them that if they can work as hard as they do, there is absolutely no excuse for me not to do the same.
Silvas article on the Sandinista governments plan to teach 100% of Nicaraguans over 15 to read an write is quite an ambitious goal. There are those who believe it can be done, and those who dont. Among the doubtful is Juan Bautista Arrien, mentioned previously. Theres another goal, which is "part of the Millennium Development Goals, and it is a set of commitments undertaken by the worlds governments in 2000, and is aimed at slashing poverty worldwide by 2015".In Nicaragua, and in the US I have seen graffiti with political connotation. There are goals of the government, here and at home, and even they dont agree not just on the goals, but on how to arrive there. Then, there are the wishes of the people, who all want different things.
The best comparison to the US that I can make regarding the debates here such as illiteracy; and potable water, is that it is much like the issues of health care, and the economy in the United States. I was watching a television program at home in CT once, and the current president and I believe he´s also the CEO, of Wallmart made a profound statement. He was talking of the very issues I just mentioned that are hot topics of debate in the US. What he said was, that both parties-Democrats and Republicans, need to stop debating on how to go about addressing these issues, and start acting on them. Debating about how to achieve a desired goal only wastes time, and the only thing that Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on is that something needs to be done about our economy and health care. He also said that, if you plan big, such as in my opinion the goals of the MDG and literacy campaigns are, your achievement will only be a grain of sand on the beach. If you start and plan small, you will achieve leaps and bounds.
On the day we leave here, this land where promises are made to the people by the government and are not fulfilled yet hope flourishes, it will be the nations anniversary of 20 somewhat years of their alfabetismo. I read a while ago one of our students blog entries, and this person wrote that the work that we´ve done here, will never, ever be enough. And that may be true, but if out of the 5 students that I tutor, if 3 or even 2 of them have advanced in their knowledge of what I have been helping them with, then I´m okay with that. If I have given hope and confidence to any of the children that I have worked with, that is enough for me-because I believe as the president of Wallmart believes-if you plan small, if you start at the bottom, as we have done with the children of today who will be the leaders of tomorrow, then we just may be able to achieve success on a monumental scale.


ADDED BY ALBA: PLEASE CONSULT SOURCES TO CORRECT DETAILS. GRACIAS. :)



(English Language Resouces)

Literacy in Nicaragua


Universal Primary Education Still Far Off


Quality of Life at School Boosts Learning


Literacy Campaign Changing Women's Lives


Down, Down with Adult Illiteracy




Memory of the Historic Literacy Crusade (1979-1980)
ENGISH VERSION
SPANISH VERSION