Motivations for coming to ABE

One woman had broken up with her boyfriend and had to start supporting herself. She had wanted to get a GED as a starting-point for a job, but tested at a Grade 5 level and was told to go to the literacy class. Another woman was trying to get her life in order. Her three children had been taken away from her and were in a home. She went to AA regularly and was thinking of becoming a drug and alcohol counsellor. For that, she needed more education. Her assessment was, "You have to want to do it." This was echoed by another woman who said, I wanted to do it for myself." One woman said, "Being illiterate and wanting to go to school is like AA - you want to go, you don't want to go." Two of the women wanted to do it for the sake of their children as well as for themselves. One said, "My goal is to be the first in my family to actually get my Grade 12 (GED)." The other had seen or heard through the media of an illiterate woman who overdosed herself because she could not read the medication label. This gave her a jolt and as she was going through divorce proceedings she was also receiving legal documents from her ex-husband's lawyer and needed to understand what was being written.

Reliance on others

Most of the people in this group relied on others - a spouse or other family members to help them with paperwork. They also said that they used the telephone a lot. Many of them said they knew others with literacy problems. “Those who acted up in school and left early are now in their twenties and illiterate.” “Lots of people in the bush have these problems and they can’t help their kids” “There are lots of people around, but they don't come to programs because of feelings of shame and inferiority.” “Sometimes, expectations are too high and people become discouraged.”

Employment obtained

The jobs done by this group included working in a fish-packing plant, being a chambermaid, dishwashing, waitressing, `working with horses", and homemaking. The men worked in wood-related industries and janitorial positions. One man currently had his own business.