Dear Nesta,
Um is me agen, muh girl. I en hear from yuh fuh some time now, but I always say dat no news is good news, so you sure to be awright!
Well, las’ T’ursduh was International Literacy Day – a day to focus ’pon readin’, wevver it was magazines, books or even comics, fuh dah matter. In Buhbayduss, de Education Ministry sen’ out a challenge to all Bajans to Drop Everything And Read! All over de lan’, startin’ at 1 p.m., de Ministry axe people to drop evuht’ing fuh ten minutes, at leas’, an’ read!
I always readin’, so dah din apply to me, but I wonder hummuch Bajans follow dah advice!
We Bajans been boas’in’ fuh years – rightfully so – ’bout we high rate o’ literacy – duh say it is de highes’ in de Caribbean – but it sad we still got dah onfortunate group o’ grown men an’ women dat cyahn read! Sometimes even when duh mek de effort, ef yuh check duh facial expression, de blank look tell all – neffin much hittin’ de mark! While, wid some ethuhs, de “green verbs” don’ show signs o’ ripenin’ a-tall!
Ness, I sure yuh would ’gree wid muh, dat wid de passin’ years, people like duh readin’ less an’ less, an’ to somebody like muhself dat like to read, I cyahn onderstan’ why. I remember de two o’ we, in we young days, evuh Sarrduh mornin’, husslin’ off to de library, to exchange books we read dah week fuh new ones, an’ den spen’ de nex’ week readin’ dem ’til de followin’ Sarrduh when we went back to do anethuh exchange!
An’ I even remember once, how you c’n “fine” a certain book you had tek a likin’ to, but after renewin’ it a million times, yuh conscience mek yuh return it! Older students use de library to study. Younger trildrun, at leas’ some, don’ show much int’res’ in even borrowin’ library books fuh pleasure. Duh int’res’ now is Nintendo, cartoons, music videas! As fuh Facebook, Twitter an’ de cell phone? “Tweetin” an’ texxin’ go on all day long, so onless yuh really enjoy readin’, books en high ’pon yuh lis’!
Ef we could get trildrun in de habit, from young, to view readin’ as a pleasure an’ not punishment, when duh get older an’ got to deal wid de million an’ one distractions, duh would still ’ppreciate spennin’ some quiet time wid a book. After all, ef yuh could spen’ hours eiduh in front a TV or de “Almighty Computer”, why yuh cyhan siddown an’ read a book? You know hummuch infuhmation I gain from readin’? My mudduh always us-ed to tell muh “it broadens your mind and helps your vocabulary”, an’ she din wrong!
Now I know all sorts o’ knowledge – nuseful, an’ ethuh-wise – out dey ’pon de Internet, an’ ef yuh want, yuh could read books offa de screen! Wid de lates’ invention, yuh en even got to siddown starin’ at it all de time, ef yuh don’ want to. I been hearin’ from muh gran’son ’bout de newes’ way to read from de ’Net.
Somet’ing name Kindle! It features a ole-time slate, only t’ing it got power, an’ de words a’ready put dey fuh yuh. Yuh could cahy it anyplace – jes’ like a book – so yuh en got no excuse fuh not readin’! Fuh my one part, I stickin’ wid de ole-time way o’ readin’, ’cause dah is wuh I ’custom to!
Now dat we “drop evuht’ing an’ read” las’ T’ursduh, from now on, I hope we gine get de urge to pick back up de habit o’ readin’ agen! Tek it from me, it does gi’e nuff pleasure while it educatin’ yuh mine!
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
