Sheryl Bastian (name changed) struggles to use words in the right context in our conversation, but I know what she means.  I don't correct her because I do not want to embarrass her.  I listen as she tells her tale of being able to speak words and hold a conversation, but when placed in a position to write those very same words down, she realized that she could not spell. The 56-year-old grandmother of one, says realizing she was not as literate as she should be did not emerge until she was put in a clerical position at her job of 14 years, and forced to take messages over the telephone.

"The clerical staff were let go from my office, which left just the two supervisors, and one of them came to me and told me they needed me to come into the office to answer the phone, and it started from there.  I knew I could answer the phone very well and it was going smooth, polite and all that. And I know it's an office and you have to be educated to answer a phone, write down messages and inform your boss of conversations and leave messages for her.  A couple times I got the phone conversation, but when it came down to writing things down it was a problem with me spelling the words.  I could say the words, but I couldn't spell them. My supervisor would say 'Sheryl that request is approved.'

I struggled writing the messages because I couldn't spell the words.  I spoke words, but didn't have to write them, so when I was placed in the position where I had to write the words, I realized I had some faults.  At first I didn't like the feeling, but I said to myself I'm not going to be embarrassed.  And even though I knew I couldn't spell good, I wasn't ashamed to ask questions and try until I get it right."
Bastian, the woman with a beautiful penmanship, was put in a position she hadn't been in before, Bastian decided to do something about it.  She sought help at the Ministry of Education's National Literacy Services (NLS) program that provides free, confidential tutoring to adults in basic reading and writing in a one-to-one approach.

National Literacy Services was launched on September 9, 1999 on International Literacy Day.  Its mandate was to provide services that will empower adults and their families to acquire literacy skills and practices they may need to become functionally literate.  NLS operates adult literacy and family literacy classes.  The adult program provides confidential tutoring in basic reading and writing, using a one-to-one approach, emphasizing personal attention in a non-competitive atmosphere.  The program caters to students who have left school without acquiring the basic reading skills, and adults in the workplace who lack fundamental literacy skills.

Bastian's story isn't one of those where a child wasn't given the right to a basic education.  She attended private schools on New Providence from age five to 17, but did not graduate because she got pregnant.  She even enrolled and attended a vocational institution in the United States where she learned typing. At the time, she didn't think she had a literacy problem, and in particular a problem with spelling.  She thinks it became an issue because she did not enter the job market in a role where she had to interact with people and write messages.

"I didn't have to worry about anything, even though I had a son, because he was being taken cared of,  Until I looked at myself and decided I'm getting older and need a job ... a good job -- a government job, it didn't matter, because I spoke words, but didn't have to write them.  So when I was placed in the position where I had to write, then I realized that I had some faults," she said.

In 2009, a frustrated 54-year-old Bastian walked through the doors of NLS, located on the second floor of the Signature Plaza on Farrington Road, seeking help.  She was interviewed, evaluated, and placed with an instructor "They gave me a few words to spell ... and it wasn't easy words, but every day words -- examine, complete, express, accuse -- words you should know, and they give me a few things to read.  Give me a paper and I could read it, but ask me to write it, it would be a problem when it comes to spelling."

Bastian who says she has amazed herself says going to NLS has improved her speech, and her ability to have a conversation with a client, because she books all functions at her job and quotes prices. She got away with hiding her inabilities in her everyday life as well.  She did not fill out forms or sign documents, sneakily encouraging other people to do it for her.
 
 
"Instead of me filling out forms, I would ask you to fill it out, and it's probably because when I tried to fill it out I couldn't spell the words I tried to put on it and so I didn't.  If I got into a position where I had to sign a form ... say the union, if I wanted some money from them, I had to fill out a form before they can give me the money, sometimes I'd say, Erica just fill that out for me, you know I can't write too good. I'd use that phrase [in reference to her penmanship], all the while it was really my spelling."

Today though, Bastian proudly says she can fill in her own forms, which she takes her time and reads slowly and thoroughly before answering.  She even purchased a car last year after getting her driver's license.  She couldn't before, considering the test and all.  With a written component to deal with, she proudly admits that she passed her test on the third try.  And getting that car has opened up her world for her as she says she now needs to get to work on time.

She was 54 when she sought help and threw herself into her classes, listening intently during her lessons, and reviewing and practicing at home.  She refers to the dictionary if she's not sure about a word and its spelling, and to learn the meanings of word. Bastian says her supervisor can now give her instructions to write a message to call the carpenter, the electrician or the plumbers and she can write it down, and deal with the issue.

Not being able to read properly and spell meant that for years, Bastian did not pick up a book.  For Christmas, one of her supervisors gave Bastian a book that she read daily and found amazing with words she did not even know and which she sounded out until she got them. Two years after entering the doors of National Literacy Services, Bastian says her world has opened up.  She's even learning how to use a computer now.  After realizing she could learn to read and spell, she says she figured she could learn how to use the computer as well. Her 89-year-old mother is proud as well.

"When I told my mother I was going to learn to read and spell, my mother said 'Sheryl go do it.  If the people didn't think you were smart enough to do it, they would never have asked you to do it.  You must be doing very well if they asked you to do it.'"

The third of seven children, Bastian says she was the one child her mother was the most worried about. "I didn't worry about anything ... went where I wanted to go, did what I wanted to do, and not the right things though -- and that's why I'm in the position I'm now in, because when I was supposed to be studying I wasn't studying.   Learning and schoolwork I wasn't into that.  I was on another page.  My mother always worried about me because I was always out.  But the rest [of my siblings] are fine.  I have sisters who worked in the bank for 30 years ... who manage the bank, and today, they are very proud of me. "

Bastian is also setting a good example for her 12-year-old grandson, and doing things with him like homework that she did not do with her deceased son during his formative years.

"My mom and my son's father's mom took care of him, so most of his school days he had his father's family to deal with his schoolwork and my mother and my sisters, so me and my son honestly never sat down and he said to me, 'Mommy can you spell me this word or is this sentence right or is this maths right.' Never had to help him with his homework, so it didn't matter that I couldn't read or spell.  But my grandson can now help me with some stuff and I'm very proud of him and he's very proud of me.  And he says, 'Grammy you learning the computer, come let me show you how to do this and how to do that.'"  

She recently purchased her own personal computer and thanks her immediate supervisors who have helped her through her most recent journey and always encouraged her that she could do it.

Two years into the NLS program, Bastian says she likes her life now and is more comfortable than she's been in a long time.  As she continues her learning trend, she wants to educate herself to the level where she can obtain stuff for herself, and hopes she can still fulfill a dream of starting a plant nursery.  She says attending NLS has taught her that it's never too late, so she doesn't think it's too late for the nursery dream at all, even though she's 56 years old.

"Since I've been to the school, in the office I've improved myself with communicating, and have had the opportunity to go to several seminars for my job, so it doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish." She's now taking penmanship and writing courses, to be able to produce letters for her office. Her bosses have also recommended her to take Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) and office procedures courses.

Bastian who gives NLS a thumbs up, encourages adults who were in the same situation to give the Ministry of Education service a try.  She says if you apply yourself it will work, just as it did for her. Her advice to school-aged children who aren't applying themselves educationally is to do the right thing, because she says it's not easy being 56 and in a position of having to learn how to read, and spell.

"If you don't learn to read now, you'll be in my position, and it might not be as easy for you as it is for me now, and you're going to be embarrassed.  So, before you get to that point, do something about it now, because you're young and it's never too late to start doing something.
 
THE NATIONAL LITERACY SERVICES
Provided adults with literacy skills from basic to functional
Focuses on enabling individuals to meet their goals and literacy needs
Empowers adults by giving them the necessary skills to make informed decisions
Bridges gap between job tasks and literacy skills
Enhances problem solving techniques
Adults are tutored by staff members and volunteers

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