Learning To Read A Journey For A FDL Area Woman

It was a long road for a Somalia native to get her High School Equivalency Diploma, an effort the Fond du Lac Literacy program had a role in. KFIZ Listeners were introduced to Ambiyo during a segment on the Fond du Lac Literacy program. Ambiyo did not learn to read or write in her native country then traveled to the U.S. when she was 18 to work in an embassy in Washington, D.C. She says when she decided to go out on her own there was nothing her hosts could do because they were keeping her without paying her. An American family hired her and taught her to speak English. Now living in the Fond du Lac area she has been learning to read through the Literacy Program and it took patience and six years to get her HSED. She says her mentor Mel taught her to take her time and learn to put her words together. She and Mel have been friends for four years. Ambiyo says sometimes when she reads to her 4-year-old grandson she gets tears in her eyes. 

Pictured: Seated KFIZ’s Bob Hoffmaster, Jenny Mattice of Fond du Lac Literacy, Ambiyo, and Mel Kolstad of Fond du Lac Literacy. 

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