"The College didn't have any room for the classes," Barb told me, "so they found some space in the basement of Gaetz United Church. It was even worse than working in the library but it was also quite comical."

"We shared the space with the 'Ladies Time Out' group which met during the day on Tuesdays and with the Sunday School classes on the weekend. That meant every Monday and Friday we had to stack tables to make room for the other groups."

"The students didn't like that. Some of them weren't well. Some were on compensation from job injuries and weren't very strong. It was hard for them and we would come back the next day and find diapers in with our books. At first we didn't have blackboards or a xerox machine. The lighting was bad and it was depressing being in a basement. We had nothing; we didn't even have a telephone. We were completely isolated from the tutoring program (which eventually moved from the library to the Provincial Building a few blocks away)."

"There has really been a lot of growth and change since then. It has taken us 10 years to get to where we are now. We fought hard for funding and for recognition from the College. Joanne really set the stage for all the growing we've done. She was the one who got the groups going then got the classes going. She wasn't content to sit and wait for things to happen she just went out and made things happen. She was always reading and passing new information on to us. It was hard work but it was exciting too."

Barb is now a full-time ABE instructor for Red Deer College. I told Barb that Sylvia had said she 'has a real way' with the students. She graciously accepted Sylvia's compliment but said that it took her a long time to learn how to work effectively with the students. "I used to get too involved," Barb explained. "I had one young student who was pregnant. She was living with a guy who was a real jerk. He got thrown in jail and one day she called me and told me she had no groceries and absolutely no money. I knew that she didn't have any family in Red Deer so of course I went out and bought some groceries for her and delivered them to her house."

"I don't think I would do the same thing now. I've learned that those little band-aid solutions don't work. That sounds kind of hard- hearted but I was too soft before. I would take to heart every sad story the students told me and that didn't make me a very good teacher."

"Now I've learned not to take it home with me or at least r try not to. Even with 10 years of experience behind me the weight of the day can still be quite overwhelming. It's hard not to feel close to all the problems the students bring to class with them."

I asked Barb why she thought the students have so many difficulties. "It's just been part of the way they've lived ever since they were young," Barb explained. "That's why they ended up being r would venture to guess that up to 75% of the students that illiterate. we have in one given term have had social problems that have caused their illiteracy. Many of the students have been beaten, abused or have had to live off the streets. There are some who had good home lives but those students in my literacy classes are very few."