| Literacy for Women on the Streets (Cont’d)
Being involved in street life and the sex trade
can be a temporary experience for women or a
lifetime occupation. Women at WISH tell us
that it is important to nourish their desire for
knowledge, discussion and debate and that we
learn from the stories of their lives. |
Our research findings provide a picture of the way sex trade workers
use the WISH Learning Centre to empower and stabilize their lives. Women
gravitate toward the Learning Centre when they need reflective time,
when they need something besides the street. The constant presence of
the Learning Centre and the welcoming environment ensure that learning
is always there for women when they can make time and when they are
ready. It is also important that the Learning Centre is a place women
can return to, without judgment.
The research project provided
everyone with a broader view of
what makes learning safe for streetinvolved
women. Without their
candid feedback, we would not
know how much kindness, respect,
encouragement and a non-judgmental
attitude mean to women who have
no other place to learn.
The WISH Learning Centre opens
both a physical and a mental space
for women in the sex trade in the Downtown Eastside. While other
organizations have tried to provide
food and health services to women,
they have not fed their minds or their
spirits. The Learning Centre provides
a space for women to exhale, to
experiment with their learning and to
use literacy as a process for healing,
self-reflection and harm reduction.
By following and supporting the
agenda women set for themselves at
WISH, the Learning Centre is able to
reinforce women’s forays into
leadership and collective
empowerment.
Funded by the BC Adult Literacy Cost-
Shared program and sponsored by Capilano
College and WISH.
Lucy Alderson and Diana Twiss are
instructors in the Community Development
and Outreach Department of Capilano
College.
Copies of the report are available from Literacy BC.
Reflections from Newfoundland
 Mary
Kiviste
I am new to working in the adult literacy field – this is the
beginning of my second year – and I am very motivated to learn
more. I think about literacy far too much. I have to be careful or it
will distort the balance that I have fiercely protected in my life until
now. The insights that I gained at the Institute came from intense listening
and reflection. It was emotional and tiring but very rewarding. I wanted
to learn about research but I also wanted to be
among literacy people to see what
they could teach me. Here are some
of my learnings.
The Arts Based Research course with
Joe Norris played with my idea of
finding answers. It kind of turned
me upside down and all of a sudden
I had a perspective that produced
some answers (and questions). I
loved it.
In talking with a long-time literacy
instructor about the difficulties of
running a one-to-one tutoring
program, I learned that I only need
to plant the seed. If learners drop
out, they will pick it up again
somewhere, sometime. With
forward movement there is always
some sliding back.
I learned about helping community
organizations improve their services
by reducing literacy barriers. In her
workshop, Audrey Gardener (of
Bow Valley College in Calgary) told
us, “If it’s not in your bones, it’s in
your way.” I hope to use this because
I believe it can really help to create a
community that understands –
perceptions can be changed.
I am trying to develop a big picture
to help create positive change in this
big issue. One of the big things I
learned was that I must read the
research. Marina also advised me to
keep a literacy journal. This I can do.
This will be my research for now.
Mary Kiviste is a Literacy Coordinator at
Okanagan University College in Penticton.
|
