Everyone understands that learning (a combination
of education and life experiences) requires broad READING. And it should go unstated that by “reading”
we should not have to deal with the mechanics of reading or anything else that
disrupts our ease of directly reaching the content. That is how we read in the more developed
languages, e.g. English.
However, in Cambodia as with the other developing
countries, at least three major obstacles hinder our reading.
First, these populations have to untangle the
mangled language in order to decipher the content. NO ONE can be made to enjoy reading if the
mangled language frustrates and confuses them, giving them headaches from the
burden and work of having to decipher and fight the printed page before they
can get to the content.
Second, these populations have to read poor
translations, not the original text.
Oftentimes in places like Cambodia where there is a disparately large
aid community that functions in English or French, most of the reading
materials were not first produced in the local language but are the result of
translation. Thus, the content is
another layer of morass because of the messy or incorrect translation.
Third, these populations tend to experience deep
trauma which impedes reading. The
migraine headaches from trauma disturb and disrupt any initiating of a reading
habit. I remember the sharp, persisting
migraine headaches I encountered as a child whenever I’d pick up a book to
read. Relatedly, reading requires
quietness and solitude and oftentimes traumatized people are afraid to be alone
with their own thoughts. Moreover, when
these populations live in loud, crowded conditions without adequate space or
lighting for reading, then the reading habit is difficult to take hold, even if
books are readily available.
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