Jan has begun to accept the fact that not all that has happened to her is a direct result of her actions. Her relationship with her mother has improved over the past four months. She has stopped trying to figure out what her mother wants of her. Instead, she told her mother that she would like to have a mother-daughter relationship. She was prepared to deal with a final rejection and get on with her life. Happily, the two of them have spent time together and are getting to know each other.

As Jan was beginning to deal with the abuse she experienced in the past and her relationship with her family, she also began to more effectively deal with educational difficulties. Jan was a reluctant learner. I had to spend a lot of time encouraging her to try new material. She spent more time dabbling with the material than actually working with it. She is now moving through new material at a pace that is consistent with the rest of the class. She has even expressed a desire to read about topics because she has limited knowledge of the areas.

A profile: Dean

A moment of truth arrived for Dean when she realized that many other women who have been abused feel the same way she does. She said she always felt that she was somehow different. She had always been told that time would make the hurt go away, but it didn't. Now she knows that time must be accompanied by actively dealing with the abuse. This has made her feel much more comfortable about herself and her feelings. She was very relieved to learn that the other women still had nightmares, still cried, or still had difficulty talking about the abuse. Her feelings of isolation were immense.

Dean always was very good academically. It was one of the few things about which she felt good. When she could work on her own, she would move through the material at a fairly rapid pace. She did have difficulty working in groups and being involved with the CCLOW project has enabled her to feel more comfortable in a group setting. She began to participate on a limited basis in group activities in the classroom.

All of the women felt really good about rewriting the Adults Molested as Children (AMAC) brochure. They see this brochure as the first step in getting women to seek counselling. The women felt if the brochure is easy to read and lets a woman know what AMAC can do to help, more women would have access to counselling.

Having the Community Developer from the Literacy Office give the women a workshop on plain language and holding the workshop in the boardroom of the Friendship Centre added to this feeling of importance. They were being treated just the same as the people who they see as important. Being able to do something that is seen as important by others in the community was a tremendous boost to their self-concept as women. It offered them a chance at doing something that could make a difference in someone else's life.

Now that this particular activity has ended, Jan continues to work on her relationship with her mother. Theresa has decided she has academic ability and she is now attending a high school program. Heather is continuing with the upgrading class and progressing at a much more rapid rate than she has in the past. Dean applied for and got a job in the northern part of the province. She knows she can do the job and do it well.