– As Lawanda Curry found out

LAWANDA Marcia Curry, who decided earlier this year to begin teaching people how to read for a living, now has a place in Bel Air Village for those who are interested.

“If I’m to travel to each student’s home to tutor them, I lose a lot of time just by traveling to and from the location. There were people who called me from as far as Mahaicony and also the West Bank Demerara. One parent even suggested traveling to Georgetown twice a week from Mahaicony so that her young child can benefit from this exercise. I truly felt sad that I was unable to provide the required help to the students,” she told Chronicle recently.
She is happy that she was finally able to find a place in May to accommodate the increasing number of persons who are showing interest.
“Initially, my focus was to have students of all ages but I have decided to tutor only children at the moment from 3 1/2 years old to grade 6. At present, I also teach basic Mathematics to the younger children; but my main focus is really to help the children with the Literacy Programme.”
Lawanda is currently preparing to host summer classes in July and August, and anyone who requires more information can contact her on 611 1900.
With suitable jobs hard to find these days for some people, Lawanda thought long and hard about the possibility of teaching people how to read for a living. The idea occurred to her years ago but she decided to get serious with it earlier this year when she found herself without a job.
“I was unemployed for a while and looking for jobs, but to no avail. So, I thought to myself why not take this up now. For a number of years, I have been teaching people to read, but on a voluntary basis. So I thought, why not make it a job?”
Born and raised in Buxton Village, East Coast Demerara, Lawanda attended Company Road Primary, Annandale Secondary, and then Critchlow Labour College where she did a course and emerged as the best graduating student in English Language. She also did a business course at Cambridge University through School of the Nations.
“Currently, I am involved in a voluntary work and I get to meet people of various backgrounds and social status. I find that some persons simply cannot read. It can be something embarrassing because most people do not come out and tell you. You have to discern it in most cases. Just recently I was in a café and I saw someone who had a form to full but someone else was doing it for her. And the form had such simple questions. It’s really a sad situation,” she expressed.
Lawanda is confident in her abilities to help others learn how to read. “I have been an ardent reader since childhood. I love reading. I would read literally anything!”
She is advising persons not to be embarrassed over their inability to read but to step up to the challenge and do something about it. “There are different reasons why people are not able to read. For example, people didn’t go to school because of poverty. But they should not confine themselves to the fact that they cannot read and just be comfortable with that. They should want to learn how to read so they can identify their names and other basic information. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”