We left the truck running and went inside, staying long enough only to say hello to the two tutors and eight students working together in the trailer. Klaus called Susan and I overhead him tell her that the weather was "taking a turn" and that we would be home for supper shortly. The students agreed that it might be a good idea to quit a bit early and to try and get home ahead of the worst of the storm.

When we were back in the truck and heading south I thought about the Chicken Coop and asked Klaus what he would do if he was able to convince the government to put more money towards the literacy programs in the North. "I know the facilities for our programs aren't great but still they are cost effective programs and we are seeing good results. If we started putting money into fancier buildings and facilities I don't think we'd get any better results. I think we'd fail farther behind.

"To start with, the people involved in our programs (the tutors and students and coordinators like myself) tend to be basic and simple people. People here are working together for a common goal so there is real community ownership of the programs. If the government built a fancy new building, the people would say, 'that building isn't ours', because they didn't help to build it."

"We do, however, need more money to pay more tutors, to buy good resources but mostly to expand. We desperately need programs in places like Jean D'or Prairie, Garden River, Fox Lake and Tall Cree. There are still a lot of people in the North who don't have access to programs."

It was getting dark and the snow seemed to be letting up. Even though it was only mid afternoon we had put in a full day and I was glad when we arrived at the Gabriel homestead.

Susan came to the door and introduced herself while Klaus went to get some firewood and feed the sheep. I made myself comfortable in the big and homey kitchen, hanging up my coat on a hook on the wall behind the table. Susan filled a kettle from the pump by the sink then moved a pile of books over to the middle of the kitchen table to make room for the teapot. I noticed that the books were Laubach literacy workbooks.

During the day Susan holds a literacy classroom in her kitchen. From 9:00 am to 3:00 pm each weekday, 5 students from a 25 km radius come to work on their reading and writing skills. I asked Susan how the classroom had gotten started and she explained, "LORNA BELL held the first kitchen classroom in her home in Ft. Vermilion sometime back in the late 1970's. There have been several kitchen schools here and there in the North. Whenever there appeared to be a group of people who wanted tutoring, a classroom would be organized locally to save people having to drive long distances to a centre like La Crete. When an interest developed in the Thompkins area Lorna asked me if I would be interested in giving tutoring a try. That was a couple of years ago now."

"This term I have five students, two women working at the upgrading level and two men and one woman working at a more basic level. One man is just learning his ABC's."

I remember everyone at an LCA meeting in Calgary endearingly calling Lorna Bell "the Grandmother of Literacy". Much of the literacy movement in Alberta began years ago around Lorna's kitchen table in Ft. Vermilion.

Loma was the literacy coordinator for the area for many years. When she decided to take a leave of absence to tend to a family matter Klaus was asked to act as the literacy coordinator on her behalf. Whenever people speak of literacy in the North Lorna's name enters into the conversation in one way or another. I had hoped to interview her on this trip but the timing didn't work for Lorna. She joked with me on the telephone and said, "Besides, you'll just have to come back in the summer to see the Peace River when it's not all frozen over!"