A Good Start

As we have traveled around Liberia visiting different villages we found that some of the villages actually had literacy programs for women to teach them how to read and write. Francis thought that we should start one here at WACSN for the women who work for WACSN and the women who live around the compound. I was given the task to start this program. I'm not going to lie I was a little nervous putting this together as I'm not a teacher. Right away I knew a woman who worked for WACSN who would be a great teacher. We had a meeting last Friday for the women to get some general information about them and their families. The women decided to have class on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays from 5:00 until 6:00 p.m.
So today was the big day for the Women's Adult Literacy program. Abigail and I went to get the supplies that were needed (composition books for the women, pencils, chock and markers). We came back and discussed what she would start off teaching these women.
I was shocked when 5:00 rolled around all of the women were here on time! This is a huge deal as most people are late here! There were 8 women who attended the first day of class. Abigail did such a great job encouraging the women and getting them to participate. There were 2 women who did not know the alphabet and by the end of class one of the women knew all of the letters! I felt like a parent watching their child learn something new for the first time! I'm hoping that more women come on Wendesday as we encouraged the women to bring their friends who wanted to learn how to read and write.
For many of these women today was special for them and for once they felt important and apart of something. I will never forget the excitement in the women's faces....it was priceless!