Thus Is Life

by Dawn Lewandowski

When asked what first motivated her to go to literacy classes, Madam Ti Ano says she wanted to be able to write her name. I ask if she is able to do this now. Needing no further encouragement, she carefully writes out her full maiden name, “Verdilia Louis Juste.” She hands me the paper with a smile.

	Madam Ti Ano at her literacy center in a church near her home in Nan Kafe, Haiti.

Madam Ti Ano is learning to read, write and calculate. She lives in the village of Nan Kafe on the island of Lagonav. Her home is a simple concrete structure with no electricity and no running water. She shares this home with her husband and Beyatris, a young girl that she has taken in as her own.

Madam Ti Ano rises before the sun is yet peeking over the horizon. She feeds the farm animals and starts breakfast for the family, cooking over charcoal. She sweeps the house and the packed-dirt courtyard clean of debris and hurries Beyatris along. She’ll need some time to braid the young girl’s hair before Beyatris heads to school. Beyatris can already read and write. She has Madam Ti Ano to thank for that. Madam Ti Ano knows the importance of education and believes it is her responsibility to give Beyatris this opportunity, an opportunity she, herself, did not have until well into adulthood.

With the family fed and Beyatris off to school, there’s more work to be done. She washes clothes by hand and leaves them to dry in the sun. She starts dinner over the fire and goes to work in the garden. Throughout the day, Madam Ti Ano also sells provisions from her home. Neighbors send their children to buy a little rice, some beans, oil, etc. She is a careful business woman and is glad that her new math skills can help ensure she turns a profit.

Late in the afternoon, Madam Ti Ano serves the second and final meal of the day to her family. It’s time for her to head to school herself, so her meal will have to wait. She dons a fresh dress and wraps her head in a colorful bandanna before heading out with her schoolbook, a notebook and a small chalkboard. She carefully wraps them and places them on her head as she hurries off. At the literacy center, she’s attentive, ready to absorb the knowledge that is being offered to her.

Upon returning home, she once again sets to working. She is the organizer for the household, and work seems to stand still in her absence. Finally, she finds the time for her own meal.

Madam Ti Ano looks tired now, but she pulls out her school book to study. I comment on all her hard work, and she says, “Konsa lavi a ye.” Thus is life. Madam Ti Ano knows she must work hard to get what she wants and needs. She tells me she wants to learn to read in order to do God’s work. She believes the Bible holds the answers. In the warm glow of the gas lamp on the table, Beyatris helps her along in her studies. I smile as Madam Ti Ano catches Beyatris in a mistake. “Gade byen.” Look carefully, she tells her, and, for a moment, the student becomes teacher.

Madam Ti Ano has sent Beyatris off to bed. She remains a bit longer, but it’s market day tomorrow, which means an even busier day. Finally, she closes her book and prepares for bed. She tells me “good night,” and, at last, she can rest.