Literacy as Confidence: Thirteen-year-old Camila, a 6th-grade student, once struggled with deep self-doubt because she had never learned to read. She avoided reading aloud in class, convinced she couldn’t do it. That all changed between July and October 2024. During a poetry lesson, the school librarian, Dionisia, used flashcards to teach El Arbolito Verde (The Little Green Tree). After days of practice, she invited Camila to read the poem aloud. Hesitant at first, Camila took a chance—and read it! Overcome with joy, she jumped up and down, shouting, “I did it! I did it!” Both her teacher and Dionisia were moved to tears to see the joy Camila was experiencing.
Camila’s journey is just beginning. She still needs practice to read fluently and independently, but she is well on her way. Her mother, who is nearly illiterate herself, is overjoyed.
Months later, in January, Dionisia visited Camila’s home and recorded her reading pages from a children’s book—an extraordinary achievement. In a school where students often forget what they’ve learned over long breaks, Camila had not lost her ability to read, despite three months without classes. In a heartfelt moment, her mother shared how Camila used to cry, feeling unworthy and incapable. Now, those days of frustration and self-doubt have given way to confidence, perseverance, and the limitless possibilities that literacy brings.
