Guest Blogger 6: You Are Lucky To Be Reading This
Oh joy, never mind my earlier post. I got my good buddy Tariro, over at October Madness to do the writing thing for me. Love her post like I did.
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I went to a youth gathering some time back. Albeit I was feeling a bit uneasy because the only person I was sure I would know was my cousin. But much to my pleasure when I arrived I met a girl I had learnt with in High school, we will call her X. X was always the pretty one; long legged and pretty. I was really glad to see X because now I knew more people than just the one person I had arrived with (purely selfish reason).
We get to the part where someone needs to read the Bible (World best seller, did you know?) One gentleman decides that X should read to the group. My “past teen years brain” tells me he was just trying to get her attention, I did mention that she was pretty, right.
Guy: X should do the reading
X: ahh guys I cant read
Guy: you have to
X: I cant read
By this time the majority of the group has formed a movement against X and they are chanting “READ READ READ”, you know how youths can behave.
X is looking very uncomfortable. She realizes there is no way out and begins to peruse the bible. The mob is now pleased, its all grins and smiles. We have successfully forced the pretty the pretty girl to read. Satisfaction.
She starts to read….”A – A –All th things war work ….” That is not a stummer. X was not jesting she truly can not read. The art of reading, which you and I take for granted was a mammoth task for her. We were in high school together for four years but X could not read.
The mood immediately changed. The movement was no longer satisfied they were embarrassed instead, they had forced the illiterate pretty girl to read.
I was furious and there were two possible recipients of my fury. The first would be the Education System; how could they let her go, release her into this world filled with words without adequately equipping her.
The second was X herself; at 24 she should have tried, worked harder. She should have forced the system to do justice by her. She should have fought to acquire this critical skill.
The individual that who worries me the most in this extremely sad saga is X’s 6 year old daughter. I hope the Education system wont fail her. I hope the system ensures that by the time she leaves its clutches she can read and read well….because its clear she wont be getting any help from home….
X anezita here?m curious..
ReplyDeleteYou are not the only, but she won't say who X is, so lets all chant Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!
ReplyDeletehav no fear, i'm headed towards our writers office right now with hopes of getting her to give me a name....*fingers crossed* Tarie Tell us, Tell us, Tell us.....
ReplyDeleteJane Doe has a name right??
ReplyDeleteshe does and Anon 2 is going to get it for us, go team!
ReplyDeletenot going to budge...
ReplyDeleteNever mind her name. She is functionally 'ILLITERATE'! Zvakaoma. My thinking is she probably has a learning disability that nobody picked up on and for that reason has never learn't to read. Obviously there will be someone who will contradict me, but lets face it. Eleven years in school and you can't read. There's got to be something more. So lets not despise X. Instead lets pray and hope that when it is our turn to bear children, they aren't born with learning disabilities and if they are, that we have the resources that will allow us to pay for the special educational services they will need and even then that it will be enough.
ReplyDeleteI suppose maybe it's because dyslexia is not so much a reality for us than it is for other countries and society is so hell bent on trying to identify the awesome ones that it forgets the others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chemwi there must be something wrong with the system that allowed her to progress from first grade till she completed four years of high school. Maybe what the author forgot to tell us as I am now believing is that this is satire the type of which I will not mention for fear of victimisation.
ReplyDeleteAww, that's extremely sad, she may have a learning disability, I agree with Chemwi, 11 years without knowing how to read? It may be a disability.
ReplyDelete