I am so impressed with the dedication that this mother, wife and sister has
to be educated.  It is that age old debate of nurture vs.
nature...environment vs. personal desire.  To many women are in that same
situation every day.  They need to know that they can overcome anything.
And it is writing like Janice's that will let others know of the dedication
and perseverance needed to become empowered.

 

  _____  

From: povertyliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov
[mailto:povertyliteracy-bounces at dev.nifl.gov] On Behalf Of janice sapp
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:53 AM
To: povertyliteracy at dev.nifl.gov
Subject: RE: [PovertyLiteracy] please reply

 

Hi Judith,  I did reply yesterday, but I think the email I sent is stuck in
an outlook folder somewhere, hmmm.   Yes, I am writing, and I see the
all-too-familiar  I did not go to school here in Italy where it is thought
that girls do not need to learn to read and write as they will not need to
be involved in the affairs of men; rather they need to be home where they
can learn at their mother's knee:  how to clean, how to bake the daily
bread, how to keep the kitchen garden, how to clean the daily fish, how to
take care of the baby, how to make dinner for the husband and the children,
how to ...., and if I didn't learn to read and write in Italy, then why
should I learn to do so in English. My children are growing away from me as
it is; I don't have time to study English; people look down their noses at
me when I leave the apartment/neighborhood. I die early and young in
childbirth; I am homesick; etc.  Most of all, I have to keep up the home
because my husband, sons, and brothers (unmarried and who live with us) have
to walk miles to their jobs each day, work very hard in cold, cold weather,
clean up, eat, sleep, and rise at dawn doing the same thing each day until
the routine drives us all crazy as well as the babies screaming with colic
or a woman cying out in child birth or Guarino, next door, beating his wife
again half the night).  The women from the Jane Adams Society come with
their snooty attitudes banging on our door to ask me questions about the
schooling that my youngest children are getting, and I don't have time for
them--their skinny bodies are bony and uncomfortable and their blue eyes,
unfamilar and cold to me and mine, dart snooping and looking into every nook
and cranny and make judgements about the things of my ancestors that I bring
from my home:  my mother's crucifix, on the wall near the door to the
apartment.  The dying Christ blesses us: our coming in and our going out.
They ask if I will come to next meeting that will teach me and other mothers
more English; they say that I can bring Rafaella, my youngest, my babe in
arms whom I am still nursing; I wonder how I could feed my child when she is
hungry?  I pretend that I do not understand.

This is the gist of my grandmothers' recollections; I am dismayed because
the no education theme runs through my mother's as well because she had to
help her eldest sister with her children.  My mother's eldest sister,
Rafaella or Rae, was beaten by a drunken husband, too often. Once my mother,
when he was at his drunkest, got into his face and told him off.  He left
the house slamming and banging doors; he hated my mother, who dropped out of
school, being around, but did not touch my mother and disappeared, leaving
my mother to help her sister with 4 small children.  Later my mother
finished a GED.  She was in her 50's.  

So yes, I am writing.  No wonder the women had no time to get an education;
they were too busy!  

Thanks for checking and yes, I am continuing to write.  hugs, jansapp


  _____  


From: "Judith Sinclair" <j-p-sinclair at worldnet.att.net>
Reply-To: "The Poverty, Race, &amp; Literacy Discussion List"
<povertyliteracy at dev.nifl.gov>
To: "The Poverty, Race, &amp; Literacy Discussion List"
<povertyliteracy at dev.nifl.gov>
Subject: [PovertyLiteracy] please reply
Date: Wed, 30 Nov 2005 10:34:25 -0600

Hello, I am concerned that I have not heard back from you.  Please let me
know how you are doing, and also if you have decided not to continue
writing.

 

Thank you.

 

Judith Sinclair, PhD
Cognitive Psychologist
Social and Behavioral Analyst
Founder and CEO
Sinclair & Associates International, LLC
Washington, DC Office
Phone: 202-364-3893
Mobile: 202-236-9822
3003 Van Ness Street, NW
Suite 308 South
Washington, DC  20008
email: j-p-sinclair at att.net
www.sinclairLLC.com <http://www.sinclairllc.com/> 

 


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