Literacy – Spanning North America :: Vancouver BC :: Fairbanks AK :: Atlanta GA

Literacy: Spanning North America      

@BritanniaCentre

Raise-a-Reader: Literacy Class Helps Afghan Refugee And Family

Zamani said all but her 24-year-old brother died on the trip, on March 25, and she’s been grieving them ever since.

Vancouver Sun: 9.14.2018 by Susan Lazaruk

Fatemeh Zamani knew she was one of the lucky ones in her family when she came to Canada in 2007 from war-torn Afghanistan, via Iran, with her husband and his family.

It was a trip she realizes not only led her to a country where she can freely get an education, but likely saved her from the tragedy that befell other members of her family.

Her father was a mullah at a mosque in her hometown of Kabul — where she and her five siblings grew up — and was targeted by Taliban terrorists, said the soft-spoken mother of two from the safety of her family’s Yaletown apartment.

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“When my father got killed, they got scared and went to Iran and stayed there for one year,” said Zamani, 33.

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She said she worries about her remaining brother and would like to have him join her and her family in Canada. She also worries about an older sister who remains in Afghanistan with her husband and children.

The tragedy and her grief makes Zamani more than grateful to be in Canada, to be learning how to read and write. She knew a little Farsi and the similar Afghan Dari language, known as Afghan Farsi, when she arrived but had no English at all.

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She was better suited to an English language course run by the Canucks Family Education Centre, which is funded in part by The Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader program, at Britannia Community Centre.  READ MORE >>

Literacy Council

of Alaska

On The Path To Citizenship, The Literacy Council Is A Frequent Aid

News Miner: 9.15.2018 by David James

Holly DeLand, an adult literacy support specialist for the Literacy Council of Alaska in Fairbanks, enjoys recalling the story of a client who attended English classes at the facility’s Gaffney Road location.

“A random good neighbor met a lady in a store wanting help with her cell phone, and this lady was from Asia and didn’t know very much English,” DeLand said. “So the good neighbor said, ‘I can give you a ride to a place where you can learn English.’”

The good Samaritan brought the woman, who was in her 70s, to the Literacy Council. Living in Fairbanks after a job opportunity fell through, the woman wanted to stay in Alaska but lacked the language skills to obtain employment. With the help of her classmates in beginning English classes, she was able to learn enough to obtain a job and an apartment.

“And she became a citizen as well,” DeLand added.

It’s these sort of success stories that make work rewarding for the staff at the Literacy Council. For many immigrants, meanwhile, it’s a vital resource on their pathway to citizenship.

“In the borough there are over 10 thousand people who don’t speak English as their first language. That’s over 10 percent of our population,” explained Mike Kolasa, the council’s executive director, adding, “Last year we had 175 English language learners students.”  READ MORE >>

@LAIAtlanta

Literacy Action Hosting 50th Anniversary Celebration

MDJ Online: 9.16.2018

Literacy Action, Georgia’s largest nonprofit provider of adult basic education, will host its 50th anniversary celebration Sept. 27 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Piedmont Park’s Greystone Hall, 1320 Monroe Drive in Midtown.

The event will also celebrate Literacy Awareness Month, which is each September. Since its inception in 1968, Literacy Action has been a grassroots driver of free adult learning services providing various levels of educational instruction to advance adults toward employment, citizenship, better wages and post-secondary education.

This special evening will feature digital trivia, heavy hors d'oeuvres and an open bar as Literacy Action celebrates some of the key people who have made these years impactful.

Special guests include Georgia First Lady Sandra Deal, who will make welcoming remarks; former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, the keynote speaker; and moderator Maria Saporta, founder and editor of the Saporta Report. The event’s honorees are Ann Cramer, senior consultant with Coxe Curry and Associates; former Literacy Action Executive Director Mattie Eley and Dave Peterson, co-founder and chair emeritus of North Highland.  READ MORE >>