PALS has been changing lives through literacy since 1979

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Though he lived in Edmonton as a child, Greece-born Nicholas Koronios spent most of his life in Athens — returning to Canada in 2016 when he was 24.

Back in Europe, he spoke English with his mother after coming home from school and soccer, pretty basic stuff like, “Hello,” or “Are you hungry?”

“I thought I knew some things. But in reality,” the now 29-year-old Edmontonian admits with a laugh, “I didn’t really know anything.”

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Koronios was hardly alone in the city, struggling with a language that throws the homonyms there, their and they’re at us randomly on a daily basis, tripping up a good number of lifelong Canadians, as well.

And while he says he wasn’t feeling much shame about it — he’s a practical guy — he had aspirations.

“There were times where bus drivers would tell me things I didn’t understand. Or I would ask a stranger on the road and they would have to explain things to me slowly. They didn’t mind. But I thought, I should be able to know this.

“I thought, what can I do to better myself, right?”

On top of being able to communicate in a way it’s so easy to take for granted, Koronios wanted to be an electrician, maybe a police officer.

“So what do those jobs require? Number one: English.

“So the first thing was like, ‘Oh, crap, I need a tutor. I’ve got to pay big money.’ And you know, I didn’t even have a job.

“How could I afford that?”

Enter Project Adult Literacy Society — the friendly-sounding PALS for short.

Running in the city since 1979, the mostly volunteer organization quietly does some of the most noble work in Edmonton: increasing our ability to communicate. And, most importantly, the program is free.

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Funding comes through the Edmonton Community Adult Learning Association and United Way, and the society also relies on donations from the community at large.

The society’s executive director, Monica Das, is so enthusiastic about her mission you can almost see it swirling in front of your eyes as she laughs, “Oh, I could talk about this all day!”

In a typical year, thanks to volunteer tutors, PALS serves about 400 learners, one-on-one, face-to-face. The COVID crisis reduced those numbers, but for learners (and teachers) able to access online video calls, the society still managed to help more than 200 people with English, math and computer literacy in the last year.

“Before COVID, we were not high tech at all, so we made a huge leap from being at the age of the dinosaurs to the AI world,” says Das.

PALS’ vision is, “To create a community in which all adults are functionally literate so that they can meet their full potential.” Its mission, put simply: “Changing lives through literacy.”

Monica Das is the executive director of Project Adult Literacy Society (P.A.L.S.), a not-for-profit organization helping adult learners improve their reading, writing, speaking and math skills.
Monica Das is the executive director of Project Adult Literacy Society (P.A.L.S.), a not-for-profit organization helping adult learners improve their reading, writing, speaking and math skills. Photo by Larry Wong /POSTMEDIA NETWORK

A staff of six organizes hundreds of volunteers, who spend about two hours a week building on the capacity of each student. Everyone comes with a unique set of skills and needs.

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Getting into the stats, Das notes Canada has a C grade overall on literacy skills, 48 per cent of us sitting under a banner of “inadequate literacy.” Currently, about one in three Edmontonians struggle with reading and writing.

“That is below a Grade 3 or 4 level, so they really cannot fill out an application form. And then there is math, which is, 50 per cent of adults struggle with basic math.”

Das immigrated from northeast India, walking into PALS 23 years ago hoping to volunteer, and she’s stuck with the organization since.

“The only place I know is PALS,” she jokes, noting adult learning is her life. “And this is what the mission of our organisation is: adult learning. And there’s no end — the moment you stop learning, you’re dead.

“When I talk about this whole literacy thing, I just get all pumped up. And there’s still so much lack of awareness.

“It’s almost like mental health. Unless someone in your family is affected, or you’re affected by it, you don’t really see it. And that’s scary.”

Back to the stats, obviously not everyone wrestling with literacy is a new Canadian.

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“The reason you don’t hear people talking about, ‘Hey, I don’t know how to read and write,’ is because of the shame. And the trauma they have been through in their life, people telling them, ‘Oh, because you don’t know how to read and write, you are stupid.’ And there’s the fear of losing their jobs.”

She says this puts pressure on basic mental health and self-esteem.

“There’s nothing wrong with these people, who are immensely talented, who have come all this way taking care of themselves, their families and children,” she says of new Canadians. “So why should one not be able to read and write (English) be stigmatised? Why do we look at their fault and not their assets?

“PALS wants to change that mindset.”

Back to Koronios, he notes, when you struggle to communicate, you sort of shut down.

“You don’t really talk much, because you don’t want to always ask the other person, ‘Like, okay can you explain this? And can you explain this? And this?”

Having gone through the program to the point where he feels he doesn’t need it any more, Koronios is now fully employed. “Thanks to my teacher, Silvia, I was able to understand English.

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“If it wasn’t for her, 100 per cent,” he says, “I wouldn’t be an electrician.”

Das says PALS’ main problem is getting to people who could make use of it, their biggest recruiter being word of mouth. “Because you have to remember, these are adults, they can’t necessarily read and write. So they’re not going to pick up a flyer.”

Indeed, Koronios tipped off others — including someone he met on the job from Barbados. “I gave him the number. He was really happy.”

If you’d like to donate to or volunteer with PALS, head to palsedmonton.ca.

But as importantly, if you know someone out there who could use PALS, whether it’s to help pass a literacy entrance exam or just generally improve their skills and up more general choices in life, encourage them to book an appointment with the society at 780-424-5514.

As Das puts it simply, “We’re here for you, don’t be shy.”

[email protected]

@fisheyefoto

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