The Canadian Commission for UNESCO identifies these dates as Adult Learners’ Week, however, most of the information on the page is oriented to 2009. Luckily, 2009 was a good year! I recommend the Learners’ Stories from 2009 posted down the page on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO website.
See the one pasted below.
Photo by Linda Studley
My grandparents raised me and we lived in the woods. In 1967, when I was six, an Indian agent found us and we had to move back to the reserve so I could go to school.
School was foreign to me because, first of all, I spoke no English and, secondly, it was run by the nuns who were at the residential school on the reservation. So I was punished a lot and learning was not fun. I dropped out in Grade 6 and led a nomadic life for the next 25 years.
In the early ’90s I lost a lot of family members due to alcohol and drug abuse, and a year later as I was lying on my bed I decided to end my life as I fell asleep.
I felt someone moving my big toe back and forth and as I was coming out my stupor, I had a fleeting thought. “My great grandfather used to wake me this way.” I sat up and looked toward my feet and gasped because he was sitting there smiling at me.
He said, “Hello, my granddaughter. I came to tell you to quit drinking and that I will always be here to help you. The old ones raised you to be a proud Indian and we also taught you to be spiritual, to adapt and to know you can do anything you want to. Have faith in your ancestors as you cross into a new journey.” When I awoke in the morning, I felt liberated and free.
In September of 1995 I went to the Obair Economic Society and took life skills, and in the fall of 1996, I went to a Native treatment centre. When I came back to Dawson Creek, I went back to Obair and redid the life skills component and enrolled in their academic program.
I was tested at a Grade 6 level and because I was constantly struggling with my work, the Adult Basic Education (ABE) instructor had me tested at the college.
The psychologist who did the testing told me that I had a learning disability called dyslexia. I let out a sigh of relief because now I knew that there was an explanation and that I was not just dumb.
I received my GED [General Education Diploma] and enrolled in the Social Work Program at the Northern Lights College—the first time in 1998. But due to my learning disability and [being] afraid to seek support I dropped out. But [I] went back in 2000 and graduated with my diploma in 2004. It took three and half years, but I did it.
Since then I have worked as a life skills facilitator, a program manager, a family support worker, a cultural facilitator, and now, as the Aboriginal Education Coordinator for the Dawson Creek Northern Lights College. I’m also a councillor for the city of Dawson Creek. I have won seven awards for community work and I write short stories. I wrote and produced a play called The Cab Ride Home, and gave the proceeds to the Dawson Creek Literacy Society.
Northern Lights College provides various technical, business and academic courses at its seven campuses in British Columbia. The programs include continuing education, trades and apprenticeship and prior learning programs. For more information, go to http://www.nlc.bc.ca/index.php. The college has two Aboriginal Student Resource Centres, located on the Dawson Creek and Fort St. John campuses. Information on those services is available at http://nlc.bc.ca/services.aboriginal.php.
Information about the Dawson Creek Literacy Society can be found at http://literacy.dc.googlepages.com/dawsoncreekliteracysociety. More information about literacy and learning in British Columbia is available at http://www2.literacy.bc.ca/helpline.htm.
