val writes: Munsch before Moses

I think I may end up being a teacher.

I’ve been fighting being a teacher since I graduated from fighting with highschool teachers and since then I have been more or less sucking at everything else I try to do. I keep coming to this point where “there’s nothing for it, I’m going to be a teacher.” but then somehow jamming out again. I don’t remember the last time I did this, but I do it more often than I do my taxes. (Which, admittedly, isn’t very often because I never owe the government money, never having made any in the first place, because I more or less suck at making money, presumably cause I keep not being a teacher.

The problem is that I don’t want to be a regular schmuck teacher. I want to work on CBC radio, I want to work with disadvantaged folk, I want to work one on one, and now, I want to make books.

I don’t actually want to write books, I just want there to BE books, and I kinda get the impression it may be up to me to make that happen.

Obviously, I am not talking about just any books, as books do exist in the world. I read a book yesterday, in fact. (It wasn’t a very good book, so I won’t tell you its name in case you one day see it on a shelf and remember hearing about it and think that must mean it is good, but the day before I read a very good book called “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” which I don’t mind you thinking I’ve recommended.)

I am talking about children’s books in Creole. There are very few books in Haitian Creole, it is considered by some to not even be a real language (thus it being “Creole” and not simply “Haitian”. That used to include me, before I’d much interest in Haiti, when I’d only heard bits of the language and understood them and so decided it was just corrupted French. When I got here, I understood a lot less (although most words, when I finally do understand them have an obvious French root) so no longer had time to waste thinking about what quality of language it was.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter. There are 8 million Haitians, (possibly more, I’m not sure if that includes the Diaspora) and they should have some books to read besides the bible. Not that I don’t think the bible is worth reading, but I don’t think it’s the key to improving literacy, which in Haiti is less than half.

Adult literacy rates, UNDP "HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 1999

Haiti 46% Cuba 96% Dominican Republic 86% Nigeria 60% India 54%

Jack and I, and now my mom, are trying to help some kids learn to read. It’s very frustrating because I remember how hard it was for me to learn how to read. I’d like to believe I was precocious, but carefully preserved exercise books show otherwise. It was hard for me to learn how to read, and I had the help of Dr Seuss, Robert Munsch, Richard Scary, and two loving (of me and books) parents. Haitians have the bible, some school primers (with blue and white pictures) and a picture bible with one picture per story. I know these are better than was available throughout much of history, but Haiti isn’t “once upon a time”. Haiti is NOW.

Literacy would make the job I have now- health education & water filter sales- so much easier I can’t describe. I have a friend who did her master’s on …rats, I forget the word. Alternate Participatory Learning? Shoot, sorry Kristin. I’d look it up but the internet is down right now… anyway, she knows a lot about not forcing paper and pencils in cultures that don’t use them, and I really respect that work, but I don’t know enough about it to be able to rely solely on it, and I have to admit that really I enjoy reading and want to share “The Paper Bag Princess” and “Leo the Lop” (and maybe eventually, Brothers Karamazov!) with my friends here.

I went to the Saint Marc library, hoping at least to get some French books. The library is pretty small, and the children’s section is mostly old books from various school libraries in Quebec and other parts of Canada. (Even some in English) The thing is that when you’re reading a book, you can look at the words or you can look at the pictures. But when the words are in a language you don’t speak, and the pictures are of things you’ve never seen, you don’t get much out of it.

I’m pretty sure it would be good to start with “Jidline Goes to Market” (One banana, two mangoes, three papayas…) and “Marie-Phila Fetches Water” (and on her way she sees Anana, Banann, Chen...) I went searching the internet and found some beautiful picture books about Haiti and Africa. It would be so lovely to get them published in the languages of the culture, instead of having them just be part of a cultural exchange program. (Which is also a really good thing- we only work on behalf of what we love, and we can’t love what we don’t know)

So, Dad says that Peter Gzowsky started a book foundation of some kind, and Mom said that perhaps one could have a book with both Creole and English in it. Not like a dictionary but like subtitles or something. Does anyone have any concrete information on this? Are there groups translating books that I can sign up with? Is there a grant which could apply?