It is an unfair assumption by readers that low literacy is a sign of low intelligence. Having an aptitude for literacy for some students may have been inhibited by difficult circumstances including emotional turmoil or instability in the family.
Their childhood memories are stories of survival and of lost opportunities not only in education but in life. Next time you judge a non-reader, consider if this were your life whether the opportunity to read could have also passed you by.
Marsha
I was sad when I was a child. It started when I was born. My mother had four children before me. She lived with their father. Things were bad with them so she left him and went with my father. She was having me. Her in-laws did not like her so she felt very sad. She tried to get rid of me. So I come and born by the grace of God's will.
Who tell me to born? I born very dark. My father said that I was not his own because he was a red Spanish and how come I am so dark. So my mother come and have my sister and she was red so they didn't have any love for me at all. So when it is my birthday they never know I have a birthday and when my sister have her birthday they used to celebrate her birthday because they love her more.
Daddy used to drink a lot and come home and quarrel and fight. I used to be the one close to her and she used to take it out on me and beat me. When he opened his mouth she used to put me outside and lock the door until night. So I used to be outside crying to come inside and she never want to let me inside.
Even when I was sick she never pay me no mind. At one time I fell very ill and she left me to get worse. Every time I cry she used to beat me. At last she took me to the doctor and the doctor told her if she had left me longer I would have died. I needed blood but she left me and didn't come and give me any blood.
So the hospital gave me some. I got better and went back home. After that she used to watch me and say that I have monkey blood. She used to give me all the housework to do and go out.
Kathy Ann
My childhood was not something that I thought I would ever talk about. I did not know my father and my mother never talk about him, except when she is vex, that is the only time I know I have a father.
As the first child in the family, and the only one with a different father, made my life hell. My mother lived with a man that I was to call dad, but in my mind he could not have been. He used to drink, quarrel and look for fight. He also beat my mother.
My mother made me pay for what he did to her. She always said that I am hers so she could kill me if she wanted. I cried inside for though I try my best to let it out, tears would not come. I guess it's because when I cry she beat me more and says to shut up. What hurt me the most was everything he did to her when he drank seem to be ok until the next time.
My mother had five more children. That did not help me, for every new child mean that I had to help with another brother and sister. There was a lot to do and not enough money to do it.
Their father never stop drinking and never stop beating our mother. There were times when he drink and could not find his way home. He will call our mother to come to lead him home, until my mother and I go to meet him. It is hard to leave your bed to meet a man who when he reach home curses you and runs you out of the house.
As a child there was times I think it would be best if I was not alive.
Become a part of Alta. Volunteer, Donate, Sponsor a student. New student registration begins September 2 & 3. Call 624-ALTA (2582) or e-mail altatt@yahoo.com or find us on Facebook: ALTA Trinidad.