Alice...

I came here as a visitor, asked for ‘landed immigrant’ status, and was accepted. I volunteered in a special care home, for food and a place to stay, for two years. I used to alter pants and make bridesmaids’ dresses. I applied for citizenship.

At the Fredericton Food Bank CASP, what was special for me was to meet people... just working together, helping each other, talking and sharing backgrounds and past experiences. CASP increased my belief in God. We were suffering without education. God is helping us, giving us people like teachers. It is not everyone who can teach you. Barb was a very good teacher. She made us feel comfortable and took us out for a conversation, tea-time, or lunch once in a while, to make us feel that we are one community. Unfortunately, it closed down.

Barb introduced us to other classes to continue. I chose the Neil Squire Foundation’s (Educational Options) CASP and they accepted me, even though I thought they wouldn’t because I was older. I had osteoporosis and arthritis and used a cane, so I had physical disabilities. I had to travel there by bus, which was a problem when I missed it. They gave me a schedule and helped me to read it. My teacher would remind me, “Now you should go, otherwise you will miss the bus.”

I could read, but not fluently. I liked the stories in Challenger (reading) series. I must write my GED. I need that certificate, to see it displayed at the Foundation’s CASP, lined up on the wall. My self-esteem has already improved. At 76, that’s why I am at St. Thomas University part-time, taking two courses on a scholarship. I always wanted one in my family to have a BA.

-Spoken words of Alice ‘Mathabo Mokoena’, Fredericton NB