Not being able to read or write can be quite a frustrating situation; I personally know.
It was a hot summer afternoon the day I boarded an air plane whose destination was a country in South America. I was exited yet nervous. The thought of having to speak another language let alone write it tormented my mind. I had very little knowledge of where I was heading. I was a stranger in a country whose culture and language stands at the opposite end of the spectrum. I began to feel distressed as I cruised through Learning to Read and Write by Fredrick Douglas. Indulging in to Fredrick's detailed description on how he learned to read, touched me. His struggle to obtain resources to learn and dangerously lurking around for such. Brought me back to the long days of absolute silence. In order to protect myself from kidnappers , I was not allowed to talk in anything other than Spanish. Something I was yet to learn. To their society I was nothing more than a way to obtain a large sum of money. To the slave holder Fredrick was no more than a loss of income. His struggle to balance who he was raised to be, and who he secretly became is admirable. Being watched from every angle, having to hold back from expressing and lurking to survive can become quite the burden.
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