Nashauna Drummond, Lifestyle Coordinator

Taylor-Dennie is proud of her achievements, as what she has learnt in maths has enabled her to help her nine-year-old granddaughter with her homework. - Norman Grindley /Acting Photography Editor

September 8 was celebrated worldwide as International Literacy Day. Jamaica has many literacy success stories and this week, we share one with you.

In her mid-40s, Dalyn Taylor-Dennie is enjoying life to the fullest. Now a telephone operator at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, she has a new lease on life ever since enrolling in the Jamaica Foundation for Life Long Learning, formerly JAMAL.

Dennie started working as an office attendant at the ministry using her vast experience as a household helper. On her way to work one morning, she noticed the sign on the East Street facility and decided to check it out. She went in and found out the programmes that they offered and picked up an application form. However, that form would remain in her bag for a year. "I was having second thoughts because I didn't want people to see me going and saying I can't read or write because that was the stigma attached to it," she told Flair.

From Long Hills in Westmoreland, she left Kings All-Age School at grade nine knowing only the basics. At the age of 16, she got her first job in Kingston as a babysitter. For almost 30 years, she had various jobs as a helper. Some experiences were good and some weren't, but through it all, she would not be taken advantage of or abused.

Constant smile

One of the memories that brings a smile to her face is her tenure working for a family in Bridgeport, Portmore. "Mrs Brooks didn't treat me like a helper," Taylor-Dennie recalls, her constant smile becoming wider. "I was like a member of her family. Whatever she bought for her children she bought for me. One of the nicest persons I've ever worked with. She bought me my first Davon pants and took me to Carifesta at the National Stadium. She got me my first passport and sent me to Grand Cayman on vacation with some of her friends (in 1972). First plane ride inna my life! I loved it; that experience was so nice."

Rebuke advances

Unfortunately, her boss migrated to the United States. During her subsequent jobs Taylor-Dennie had to rebuke advances made on her by her employers' husbands, and she also encountered snobbery. She recalls that one of her employers searched her bag every evening before she left the house. Taylor-Dennie bluntly told her: "I am poor, but I have integrity."

One of her last jobs ended violently when her employers refused to pay her and the police had to be called in. Taylor-Dennie recalled that on being escorted from the house, one of the policemen said to her, "you don't have any ambition? Nobody works for that woman".

Dennie finally completed and submitted the application form she had from the Jamaica Foundation for Life Long Learning. She recalled her feelings on her first day. "On my first day, I was so scared I didn't know anybody there. I liked English but when it came to mathematics, I cried."

Math was always a problem for her, but after three tries, she finally passed the Jamaica School Certificate math. "I was on top of the world. I moved on to level four; we did the same subjects but they were harder. It was at this level that they prepared us for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) and I wanted to do it."

Though she wanted to do it, it was at the encouragement of one of her supervisors that she tried CXC English language. "I went to the University of the West Indies among high school students. Can you imagine me Dalyn Taylor-Dennie? I got a grade two and not even cloud nine could hold me. I was so happy. Now I see where if you want something bad enough, you can go for it and get it."

Proud of herself

Dennie is now doing mathematics and literature in the High School Equivalency Programme. "I'm so proud of myself", she said noting that she what she has learnt in mathematics has enabled her to help her nine-year-old granddaughter, Cheyenne, with her homework. Her future plans involve becoming a social worker or an early-childhood officer.