I put my tape recorder on the coffee table and asked Jean and Rita what had triggered their interest in literacy. Both Jean and Rita have a close family member who has a learning disability and has had difficulties learning to read. They agreed that this firsthand experience deepened their commitment to their work in literacy.

Jean explained. "This is not just a job for me; it's more like a vocation. I also work in a hotel (my 'other' job) and it's not a glamorous position. My employer expects me to be dedicated to my job there, to think only of that work, to want to do everything for the benefit of that job and I can't. I can't bring the dedication to it the way I can to my job in literacy."

Rita had been quiet for awhile. When I asked her what she was thinking, she said, "When I was teaching business, I was working with just one factor of the student's life. When I teach in literacy, I am working with the whole person because literacy involves everything about the person. They give everything to you and you give everything to them."

Jean and Rica explored the idea that literacy requires those working in the field to be "giving and nurturing" people. They talked about trust, how the students have to trust their teachers and how the teachers have to trust themselves. They pointed out that when you give of yourself, whether you are a student or a teacher, you become vulnerable. Literacy workers, they thought, appear to be prepared to take that risk. Rita said in fact that "the biggest mistake I make with my students is when I hold back." Jean added, "We aren't diminished by the amount that we give, we are replenished and rejuvenated by giving. Sometimes saying 'I want to help people' sounds so self-righteous, when we are not self-righteous people." Jean and Rica agreed that they just want (and need) to be good to their fellow humans and are often saddened and frustrated when they feel they have to qualify their actions and intentions.

It was Friday afternoon and the trailer was suddenly full of activity. Marena and Toni were getting ready to attend a Learning Disabilities Conference in Calgary, Jean said she was due back at the hotel for the evening shift and Rita had some work to finish in her classroom before the weekend. Leana came to say goodbye and wish me a safe trip home; she would be leaving shortly for Calgary as well.

One more interview, then I would also be on my way. It was 2:00 on Friday afternoon. My plane wasn't leaving until 4:30 and I could feel myself starting to fade. And then FERN DERIE came into the trailer, full of smiles and her wonderfully infectious energy.

Fern had driven in from Oyen, a small community of about 1000 people, 200 km north of Medicine Hat. I knew I wouldn't get out her way so Fern graciously agreed to meet me at the trailer for our interview.

The trailer wasn't unfamiliar to Fern. The literacy program she coordinates in Oyen is also part of the Medicine Hat College ABLE Program, similar to the programs in Brooks and Bassano.

I thanked Fern for taking the time to come and see me but she assured me that she is always happy to find a reason to come to the city. We talked about the isolation of a community like Oyen and I wondered if Fern felt the isolation in her literacy work as well. "I do feel the isolation," she said, "but it's not the kind that's bothersome. I don't feel that it interferes with my work. In literacy, there is a very suong undercurrent of 'call me', Two weeks ago I called Pat Campbell in Edmonton to ask her for some techniques to help someone increase their reading speed. It didn't phase her in the least that someone from 700 miles away was calling her for this information. It's just pact of the network."