photo by Rebecca Gorham
The happy, little person with a book, seen above, is my grandson. Just a couple of months ago, he turned “two.” Already, he cannot go anywhere without his “book bag.” Loving relatives, his parents, and friends keep him well-supplied with his own little library.
Seeing the picture above, makes me happy and wistful at the same time, for it is not that long ago that I was reading to his father and taking him to the library which, in our small town, was only open on Saturday. At the age of four, my son was reading to “me.” I recorded one long story about a chipmunk and still have it on a cassette tape. It comes as no surprise that, as I write this, he is working on his doctoral dissertation. All of these remarks are not to brag, but to say that education is important, and the earlier that children are taught, the sooner the lessons will “stick.”
Tonight on the TV news, there was a report of continued upheavals in Kabul, a war torn area, in which a school had to be shut down because no one could afford pencils. Pencils? Wow! Who, in America, could not afford to buy pencils? The poorest of the poor could buy one. As I sit here, tears are streaming down my face as I think of the utter waste of human potential. The children so want to learn. They are afraid to leave their homes, in many instances, as so many children have been kidnapped there and some never return.
There are dire circumstances that disrupt learning in Pakistan, as well, particularly the area about which someone wrote to me several days ago. In the northwest province, high in the mountains, and rich with natural beauty, the authorities have told everyone that all schools must close within 30 days.
I struggle with knowing that there are both children and adults who want to learn cannot do so. Yet, they would have to learn, in order to seek, or keep, a position of work that could sustain them and/or their families through life. I am ever thankful that I was blessed with a fine education, in part because I was a good student, and in part, because my father valued education and placed a high emphasis on it. He told me to be a teacher and that I would always find work, no matter what happened. Teachers are always needed.
Part of my mission in creating a huge, educational website is to share what I have learned, freely, realizing that not everyone has had the same experiences as I have, nor has lived as long, in some instances.
The saying goes: “If you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.” I hope that I will succeed at teaching “fishing,” or shall we say, “learning through the written word and images.” If you can read well, you will have many doors open to you. At the very least, you will be able to fill out a job application! Wishing you the best of luck, and I hope that you enjoy exploring my “improved” website that I have just spent more than a week updating.
Patricia Cummings
Quilter’s Muse Publications
