I'm very angry today!

Today I'm angry, and so because I have the means at hand, this blog, I'm going to rant and rave, and hopefully by the end somebody out there will have read this and at least taken the time to understand why I should feel the need to blow my top.

I'm fortunate in that I've ended up doing a thing that is a 'vocation' in life.  As a teacher, teaching English to foreign students, mostly adults, adults and young people learning MY LANGUAGE, I'm following a path I never knew I would set out on.  I'll never become rich, and there are times I've personally suffered as a result of my vocation in life.  Yet I still believe in my vocation, because above all it allows me to return to others a solid means which enables them to progress in their lives, whichever direction they will choose to go eventually.  To watch a student progress, regardless of their ability to learn, is to watch a tender bud flower.  But the greatest joy for me is knowing that I was a tiny part of that wonderful growth, that I contributed in a selfless and meaningful way.

There will be many of you sitting and reading this, earning a decent salary, doing the things you want, when you want.  You will have a comfortable life, and you may also not want to read what follows, but I AM ANGRY!  I'm angry because even in this 21st century world, a world reduced to a global village due to the Internet and its vast array of communication forms, I last night (Monday) sat for 2 hours with a potential student from the Ukraine.  This delightful individual, a mother with a seven year old son, had contacted me to help her develop her English skills, so she can progress in life, so she can make a better life for herself and son. 

Eventually we discussed the price of my lessons, my price depends on the number of lessons taken, with a good discount for two or more lessons per week.  The lady in question has a responsible position in life, with a degree in economics, divorced and earns a salary of $150 per month; I have checked this and it is correct according to the information I found on the web.  Yes, a salary of $150 per month to live on and support her son.  This I find completely outrageous, as she needs English for her employment responsibilities, and she gets no help from her employer.  Towards the end of our discussions she was in tears because the key to her future success, she believed, was slipping away.

I will do everything I personally can to help her because I passionately believe that no-one should be denied access to learning something that makes the individual grow and prosper.  As I grew up my attitudes hardened towards education because of the discrimination I personally suffered due to my 'lack of academic' ability, and I'm talking of the British education system which was willing to consign me to a life of sweeping factory floors; I'm not joking.  A sense of learning is the greatest gift we give the individual, but all too often that curiosity and desire to learn is corrupted by both education and money.  No individual should be denied the opportunity to learn.

I dare say, and I've already acknowledged this, that I'll die poor.  I have no difficulty with this, and accept it because I refuse to be a part of a world that values money above all else.  I accept I cannot change the world, but I can help a few individuals along the way.  What are you willing to do to help make the world a much fairer and better place to live in?