Congratulations to Mrs. Donna Murphy for winning the top prize in a literacy essay contest offered by Chatelaine Magazine. Mrs. Murphy won a $300 book voucher for her story called "A New Beginning". This essay was the only winner from Eastern Canada and was chosen from more than 700 entries. Mrs. Murphy's story will be published in the May issue of Chatelaine Magazine, here is her story.

In our Society today, finding employment is very difficult. It is even more difficult because I am one of the many people who do not know how to read. Being unable to read affects your life in many ways.

One of the ways it has affected my life is that I could never successfully find a good job in the workforce. I have had many bad experiences and disappointments, for example, I was denied an eight dollar an hour job working in a kitchen at a hospital. The job required someone to prepare meals. The problem was that you would have to read the orders easily and fast. When the lady that was interviewing me asked me if I could do this I told her no. She then told me that she would not be able to hire me.

After I was refused this job, I started to look again. Then I was hired as a cleaning lady, I thought this job would work out fine. I didn't think you would have to know how to read anything to be a cleaner. I was wrong because there were different cleaners for different types of furniture. Being unable to read the labels on the bottles was very difficult for me. At first there was another lady working with me who helped with them but one night I had to work by myself. The next morning when I went to work my boss said that he wanted to see me in his office. I could tell by the look of his face that I had done something wrong. When I went into his office he asked me what I used on the furniture "I told him furniture polish" Then he asked why the desk turned white. He said do you know howexpensive these desks are to buy? The he told me that they were eight hundred dollars each and that I had ruined six of them. Then I explained to him that I didn't know how to read. I think he understood but he still told me that he had to let me go. I went downstairs got my things and cried all the way home.

After that I decided to try babysitting to earn some extra income. There have been many times when a child has asked me to read them a story and I would try to make an excuse not to have to read to them because I didn't know how to explain this to a child who wouldn't understand why a grown up doesn't know how to read. To me not being able to read makes me feel helpless at times because there are so many things that you are unable to do without the help of others. For instance, doing everyday things such as reading books, newspapers, magazines, looking up a phone number in the telephone book, or even just writing a grocery list are so difficult for me to do. One day I said to myself. I don't want to live the rest of my life like this. So I decided to go back to school no matter how hard it was or how long it took. At first I was really scared because I was out of school for such a long time. Now that I have gone back to school I am learning many new things everyday and I feel better about myself more and more thanks to my tutors at the Rabbittown Learners Program. I have also learned from going back to school that you can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it.

Viewpoint response Thanks to all our readers who took the time to let us know your thought about the November issue of First-Time Readers. Many people liked the stories about moose hunting. One reader from Hare Bay sent the following letter.     Dear First-Time Reader My view point concerning moose hunting is that if the licence is from September to January 9 it stays that time. When it goes to a draw and licences are paid for, that date should not be changed. In your next paper I would like for you to answer my question. There were 3,000 non-resident moose licences (sold) to hunters outside Newfoundland this year. The majority were American. Now what happens to meat from those moose that were killed? The only things showing in the paper are the antlers. We can see each hunter spends $7,000. Yours truly, Robert Pickett

Viewpoint answer Most non-resident hunters take the meat home with them. They get a game export permit. The meat must be inspected by federal inspectors before it is taken into some countries. They may give some meat to hunting lodge owners to give away or for personal use. The meat cannot be sold. When a moose is killed on the road, the meat that is good for use is given to community non-profit organizations. The Wildlife Department has a list of names. The meat is given to the organizations on a first come first served basis. They try to give the meat out in the district where it is killed.