The next morning, I stepped off the elevator at the Alberta Vocational College in Calgary and was greeted by two huge floor to ceiling literacy posters; I was obviously in the right place.

I found ROBIN HOUSTON-KNOPFF setting up a VCR in the coffee area of her office. She was getting ready to show me a video called, "There is a Way Out", written and produced by the Literacy Class as their International Literacy Year Project. We made some tea and watched as the students "played themselves", telling others that it is possible to make changes in their lives. It was a delightful and impressive product of many hours of hard work. Robin was understandably proud of the students' efforts.

Robin is the Coordinator/Instructor of the Interchange Adult Literacy Program. She has been involved in literacy for 10 years, teaching and tutoring literacy in various church basements around Calgary. Robin laughed and said it was a real step up to finally "get above ground" in her present office space.

We were joined shortly by BOB BROWNIE and AUDREY PETERSON, two tutors with Robin's program who had agreed to come and speak with me. They were full of ideas and Robin's enthusiasm and I liked them both immediately.

I asked them why they chose to volunteer as literacy tutors. Bob, a gentle and articulate man in his early 50's said, "It's the reading part - I love to read. I'm a fanatic, in fact. I never made a point of sitting down at home and reading Dick and Jane to my kids, but the place was always awash with books and newspapers and National Geographics. You name it; it was always available."

Audrey, a retired teacher, shares Bob's love of reading. "That's how I always got into trouble as a kid. My mom used to say,'Will you put that damn book down.' And I would always answer, 'In a minute Mom.'"

Robin noted that the bottom line of the Tutor Information Sheet used for the lnterchange Program asks why people want to tutor. She told us that, "Ninety percent of the people respond 'I love to read.' They say, 'It amazes me that there are people out there who don't have that richness in their lives.'"

"Loving to read is one thing," I pointed out, "but what about being able to teach someone to read?"

Audrey responded first. 'Tm a trained teacher," she said, "and I have a lot of patience. I've been told that. When I look at myself, I know I'm always in a hurry, rushing to get this or that done. But when it comes to teaching someone how to do something, I do have patience."

"I'm not a trained teacher," Bob said, "I'm a drafts man who loves to read. But I have travelled and held a number of jobs. I've raised three kids on my own and have had many different experiences. There's a lot more to this than sitting down and saying, 'Here is a book; we are going to learn to read.'"

Bob turned to Robin and suggested to her that training for tutors should include a better understanding of the student/tutor relationship. "I remember when we had our tutor orientation," Bob said, "about 95% of the time was spent on how to teach, how to use resources and that sort of thing. The orientation would be far better if it was 50% on teaching and 50% on personal relationships. We need to know about vulnerability (ours, as well as the student's) and the difference between help and interference. And we have to understand that in some cases, no experience we've ever had before will fully prepare us for tutoring someone."

Both Bob and Audrey have been tutoring for a couple of years. I asked them if they would rather be paid for their rime. Both said that money is not important since the rewards they get are more than enough. I asked them to tell me about those rewards.