6
A
t last, the time has come to stay at home and take
in the quietness of retirement to nurture health and
long life. Not so! An August 2013 scientific review of
40 international studies found that those who regularly
help out in their community were 20 per cent less likely
to die prematurely than those who never volunteered.
Helping others also reduced depression and increased life
satisfaction.
Retired diplomat and volunteer adult literacy tutor Philip
Sealy attests to this. “For me the decision to volunteer
was taken in the context of retirement... not wanting to sit
down at home and contemplate the sky. Interacting with
ALTA students and seeing them progress after one or two
years brings an incredible personal satisfaction.”
ALTA, the Adult Literacy Tutors Association, offers free
classes for those 16 years and over who would like to
improve their reading and writing. ALTA has some 300
trained volunteers active in ALTA free community classes
and Reading Circles.
Commemorating the organisation’s 20 years in existence
last year, ALTA founder Paula Lucie-Smith reflected,
“ALTA brings people together who would not otherwise
meet: not just tutors and students, but tutor and tutor,
student and student. Each comes to look at the other, and
the world, with more understanding of their differences
and difficulties.”
In 2005, Brenda De Silva, a broadcast presenter for 37
years, began teaching a small group of adults, twice a
week for two hours. She went on to serve in many ways:
on the ALTA board, as a coordinator guiding tutors in
other classes, a facilitator and trainer at Refreshers and
Tutor Training Courses, proof reader, and, coming full
circle, a member of the interviewing panel to screen new
tutors.
“For a retiree, staying with ALTA is a natural since we
have a legitimate reason to get out into society and
keep the grey cells working,” says Brenda. At ALTA she
discovered a community among her students and fellow
volunteers. “I have gained a lot in these past years, not
least of which is patience, though it did come ‘dropping
slow’, and I hope to continue to grow as ALTA does.”
Retired professionals, in particular, bring a wealth of
experience and get the opportunity to meaningfully
transfer workplace skills.
“One major discovery is the tremendous learning
opportunity that ALTA has provided me in the winter of
my life,” says Hamilton Padmore, ALTA Board treasurer
with 30 years’ experience in the petroleum sector. He
calls his move into ALTA tutoring “my third career”.
A year after ALTA began, Noreen de la Rosa was
volunteering at the Servol Life Centre in Cascade when
she realised the youth who attended the centre could not
read. Never one to shy away from something new – a
woman who joined a tap dancing class around the age
of 50 – Noreen took the reins and began teaching them
to read. But all she knew of reading was that she loved
to read, so she jumped at the opportunity to train as an
ALTA tutor and 20 years on, Noreen says as long as she
has strength she will continue with ALTA.
She recalls students whose lives changed as they learned
to cope with their everyday environment. She recalls
Agnes, a student, who came into class, stood in front
of the room with her hands on her hips and proudly
declared, “My madam this morning bought a new
pancake mix, and I knew to put milk into the mixture not
water!”
Like the TTARP members above, ALTA offers you the
opportunity to change someone’s life and yours. For
details on becoming an ALTA volunteer call 624-
2582/653-4656 or check out
The time to learn,
the time to give
