ALTA grads read under the trees

Lisa Allen-Agostini

The north region of the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA) celebrated the association’s 25th anniversary with Readings Under the Trees on March 17. The organisation, a not-for-profit that trains literacy teachers and holds 50 classes across the country, marked its silver milestone with individual events hosted by each of its regional arms. The North Region chose to hold its event at the Botanic Gardens, Port of Spain.

Writers and ALTA graduates took turns reading poems and fiction under two spreading trees that afternoon. Guests brought their chairs and mats, even a dog or two, and listened to the likes of published authors Michael Anthony, Barbara Lalla, Kevin Jared Hosein, Judith Theodore and Lyndon Baptiste, as well as those who had become writers after improving their literacy through ALTA. There was also an open mic for patrons who wanted to share their own writing.

One ALTA graduate who read was Shurwayne Scantlebury, 47. In a telephone interview after the event, he recalled he was a teen when his dad introduced him to ALTA. Scantlebury quit his job to start taking literacy classes at the National Library in Port of Spain. He still goes to the classes, even though he’s now a writer himself and a member of the Writers’ Union. “You’re never too old to learn anything,” he said. At the Readings Under the Trees, he delivered two of his own pieces, one a poem and the other a prose piece called International Men’s Day. The response to his work was good, he said, “especially when I started to read the story about men”. “I find men should step up to the plate; there are too many single mothers. Men should start playing the roles as fathers,” he said, discussing the content of the piece. It talked about men’s fear of looking vulnerable. “Certain topics men not supposed to talk about it because they are ashamed, men not supposed to be vulnerable.” He wants more men to break those patterns.

He said he would advise anyone to seek ALTA classes if they wanted to improve their literacy. “You have to be determined. Whatever you want in life you have to be determined and don’t let anybody stop you from doing it. Of course you will have obstacles in your way but once you get over that obstacle you will do it.”

Nationally, ALTA has some 250 tutors. Last year, according to the chairman’s report on the ALTA web site, it had 1,451 students attending classes. Started in 1992, ALTA has served 14,000 students since then, the organisation boasted in a press release about the readings. “Over the years ALTA has celebrated literacy and reading through our community classes and reading circles, so we thought that a celebration of ALTA should reflect that,” said Paula Lucie Smith, founder and CEO of the association, in the press release.

The east and mid-east regions held their anniversary celebrations on March 10 with a sports day at the Lopinot Historic Complex; the south and central regions held a fun, food and frolic day on March 24 at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre.