Her daughter, the mother, and the mother’s mother could not read.  It was an analphabetic trinity.  I was standing on a hillside in the Caribbean underbrush of a tiny village within a village, swallowed up by palms and Banana plants crawling up the hillside like green spiders.  I was north of Mesopotamia, on the winward side, one of the last few islands of the Lesser Antilles, the tail of the kite where aquamarine seas meet obsidian sand and carried Christopher Columbus who sailed the Ocean Blue and the Black Pearl, Captain Jack Sparrow and the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest

“How are you?” I asked.

“Good for de time.”

The mother, barefoot, streaked with a dawn-to-noon mix of work, sweat and cooking flame openly smiled a mostly toothy and semi toothless open smile.  Her arm cradled a plastic basin, with laundry when I offered her a tract to read.

“Me no know me letters.” she said.  Her open humility and zero shame and grounded acceptance of the situation of what is and what was refreshing and impressive.  Seeking common ground on a Vincentian hill I moved to another question: “What do you hope for the future?”

She looked up at me with honest eyes.  Her heart, swelled with Arawak, African, and Carib pride and strength of what she knew she could give, rang in her sing song Vincy accent, the voice of all mothers worldwide seeking to educate and launch the precious next generation: “I’m going to teach me gurls how to cook and clean and so, and how to wash clothes in the rivuh (river).”

 “Bravo!” I said.   “Good for you!”  She held her proud mom smile.  The seconds passed.  

“Would you like to learn something?” I asked.

She placed her basin down and looked at my outstretched hand with an Awake magazine. 

“I can help with letters.”

I pointed and sounded out each letter.

The Numbers

·       Six out of 10 children cannot read and understand a simple story at age 10.

·       21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2023.

·       54% of adults have a literacy below 6th grade level.

·       Low levels of literacy costs the US up to 2.2 trillion dollars per year.

·       Literacy is learned. Illiteracy is passed along by parents who cannot read or write.

·       One child in four grows up not knowing how to read.

·       34% of adults who lack proficiency in literacy were born outside the US.

·       According to UNICEF, "Nearly a billion people will enter the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names and two thirds of them are women."

During the week starting Monday, January 23, 2023 – Sunday, January 29, 2023, the House of Mistofer Christopher is gifting the children’s story app “Talk About The Monster” (ages 5-11) for free to download on your respective platforms.  App Store to our educators, families and children.   “Talk About The Monster” features an interactive “read to me” option which help children to learn how to read by highlighting words, letters, and sounds as the child presses the words.

Please find below a link to download the app and share it with your community. if you enjoy the app, please give a kind review on the app store.

Talk About The Monster Children's App