Herminia Aguayo has been involved in the Alfalit literacy ministry* in Chile since it began. She works with the Chilean Bible Society’s women’s volunteer group Messengers in Action, who visit prisons and hospitals. She has always appreciated the value of reading and writing because her mother taught her to read and write well before she went to school.
What has it been like to work on the literacy scheme and see the fruits of that?
It is very important. I have come here today to buy some resources for my daughter. She has been a quadriplegic since she was in a car accident 30 years ago. I have known many people who couldn’t read or write, and I have seen how acquiring those skills has changed their lives completely. They used to be ashamed, but now, for example, they can use buses with no problem. Being able to read and write changes people’s lives in the social and the spiritual sphere.
What topics for prayer would you like to share in connection with your literacy work?
I wish more people were willing to put themselves in the place of people who can’t read and were able to give some of their time to helping them. In love the hardest gift to give is time. If we love our neighbour as we say that we love God, we should get ourselves organised to hand over some of our time to them. For 30 years I have been helping my daughter to go to hospital… to do her exercises… But none of this has been a hardship for me because I’ve got organised.
How have you felt as you have seen your daughter develop the same passion that you have for literacy?
I’m delighted that, even with her great handicap, she has a great love for other people, and wants to give her time to teaching people to read and write. Even before she came across the Alfalit literacy program, she had been teaching people to read.
How long do think you will remain involved in the project?
I am 74 now and my prayer is this: «Lord, I ask you to call me when I am teaching someone to read or when I am sharing the Word». Even if I were bedridden I’d still like to be able to share God’s Word with people.
A prayer about literacy in Chile: Of all the women in Chile aged over 10, a total of 4.25 per cent can’t read or write. Pray for these thousands of women who are hampered by this.
*Alfalit International is a faith-based non-profit organization founded in 1961. It offers programs in literacy, basic education, health, nutrition, and community development to the poorest people in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Portugal, and the United States. Every person who learns to read and write through Alfalit is strongly encouraged to teach the same skills to another person.
Interview by Javier García, Communications Officer, Chilean Bible Society