Alyssa's Social Justice Project.

Alyssa Pirbhai

English 102

For my Social Justice Document project, I chose to interview my father. My father’s story has impacted many lives in our family. My father has suffered being illiterate his whole life. Everything around him seems like a difficult task to accomplish. At times he gets so frustrated that he just wants to give up but he knows he can’t. He feels marginalized, powerless, and emotionally violated.

I will be posting an interview with my father but not all information about him will be posted. I do have his permission to have the interview be public but he has asked to keep some of the questions and answers confident. If there are any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to ask and I will answer them to the best of my ability.

Can you briefly tell me something about your childhood that led you to being illiterate?

Let me start of by saying that I did attend school and did learn to read. Although I did not finish all of elementary school, I did go to school until the 5^th grade. I did learn how to read in Arabic and learn some basic math. I had to leave my education because of my family.

Why your family? Didn’t they encourage you to continue your education?

I have 3 sisters and 5 brothers. Every male in the family worked, including my dad. My sisters were little so they often helped out my mother around the house work. My dad had started getting sick after working long hours in the factory and would often complain about his feet being swollen. I wish I could continue going to school, but I had to help with the financial situations.

Did any of your brothers or sisters attend school?

I think my youngest sister went to school up till 7^th grade but she was never interested in school. If she stayed then she would have had bright future. None of my other siblings were interested in going to school, they always wanted to hang out in the streets and make an easy way of making money.

Being illiterate, what made you want to take the risk of leaving your family back in Pakistan and starting a new life?

My father past away in my lap when I was 14 years old with a very bad foot injury. I wasn’t able to stay in Pakistan anymore; I was constantly messing up my life and needed to start off with a clean slate. Many of my friends worked on ships and said they could get me a job on the ship and I would get an opportunity to travel. I traveled around Europe for quite sometime but never intended on staying there. I was always scared though when I traveled, I never knew what they would ask me or if I had to write something. Luckily there was always someone who helped me get through my tough times.

Has being illiterate changed your life in any way?

Yes it has. I don’t recall ever having a decent job and never trying to worry about making ends meet. I’ve switched from job to job almost every other month. I am very dependant upon people and don’t always feel comfortable asking for help.

Did you consider going back to school?

I did try to go back to school almost 12 years ago but having stress about my family in America and Pakistan and worried about work, I was not able to focus. I think I went for about 5 weeks and had to stop. I don’t think my mind was even ready to pick up the pace of education again.

Now that you are married and have a family, does being illiterate still sometimes affect you?

I have a great support system from my family and I know I can count on them no matter what. At times I do with I could do things on my own and not bother my wife or children to do them for me. My children have tried to teach me how to read and write but I still haven’t been able to do it. I want my children to always stay in school and get the best education possible. I would never want them to take the path that I have chosen.

Being an illiterate man in the United States has helped me become a stronger person. The challenges that I face in this country has helped me grow, even though I am dependant upon people at times, I still manage to try to get things done on my own. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t been able to achieve anything in life but I know I have made drastic changes for my family back in Pakistan. As long as everyone is happy then I’m happy. You cannot go back in time to change your mistakes, you can only move forward and make a better future.