Literacy Program

I discovered a few years ago that Porfirio, the gardener's son, having finished grade one could not read.  Not only could he not read he didn't even know his alphabet.  I was appalled and told Hormelis to have him repeat grade one.  

I then undertook, with the help of his big sister Sol, to teach him his letters.  There seemed to be a brick wall that he could not see past and it was like pulling hen's teeth to pound the letters into his head.  Their summer holidays here are mid Dec to the end of February.  By the time school started in March he kinda, sorta knew about half of the alphabet.  By the end of Grade 2 he was starting to vaguely be able to read.  I bought him books and asked his sister to read him stories every day.  I am not sure how compliant she was as I have discovered that after grade 6 she is not that great a reader herself.  She quit school after grade 6 as that seems to be enough for them.  I am after he dad to send her this year, we'll see how successful I am.

Then lo and behold this year Profirio's mother hired a tutor to help him.  The difference was astounding.  He reads almost as well as his sister now and is just going into grade 4.  His average was 4.2 out of 5 which is nothing short of a miracle.  This lady is a teacher and helps him 3 hours a day, every day after school for the princely sum of $40 per month.  Payday came for her at the end of the year and Hormeils only had $200 to pay her so I antied up the other $200 I was so proud of him.

Donna and I then decided that these kids needed a literacy program and that they needed books to read.  There are libraries here but they do not have children's books.  In fact, children's books are scarce and expensive.  I found a place to buy books and we have endeavored to supply each child with a different book every week.  They can trade them around.  We have many children involved now and I feel like the pied piper.  One day I went to the rancho where we meet and there was no one there so I just leaned against a post and waited.  Soon I saw a little hand waving in my direction but he was facing the houses and in moments they started appearing, it was so cute.

There are 2 little girls, one in grade 4 and one in grade 6, and neither one of them can read.  Oddly enough their older sister can read quite well.  How a child can get to grade 6 and not be able to read, boggles my mind.

Below are the children that showed up on the first day.  We now have many more who come. Isabella, the little one in the hot pink is just starting grade one and so we are teaching her the alphabet.  We have alphabet puzzles made from foam that they can put the letters in and out of so those are a hit.  Many of these kids have never seen a puzzle.

It is not all work and after we have taken turns reading for about an hour then we play a game.  We played soccer this day and below is the group.

Teams were chosen by the kids rushing over to one side or the other.  The two girls on the far left below are the sisters that cannot read. The girl in the blue is the big sister that can.  We think the one in the green is dyslexic. Donna is in the hat with the sunglasses.

I seem to have gotten the short end of the stick as all the bruisers are on the opposite team. My guys can run fast though. Porfirio is the one kneeling with the ball.

Then after playing in the sun everyone cools down with a bit of water from the sprinkler.  This is a treat for them as they don't have outside taps nor garden hoses and even if they did the yards are tiny and dirt so they would just have mud to slop through.  We take so much for granted.