“Now I Belong”: A Video Ethnography on Adult Literacy Students

I graduated from DePaul in June 2012 with a B.A. in Community Psychology. Through my Field Work class, I’ve got the opportunity to meet Harold, a 71 year-old student at Literacy Chicago, a non-profit organization committed to improving quality of life by providing adult literacy and ESL instruction services.

In this short film, Harold and two other students told me how a community organization helped them overcome their daily challenges and achieve greater self-sufficiency.

Now I Belong* 

*Now I Belong is an ethnographic short film that describes the challenges and the success stories of adult literacy learners. In the United States alone, over 30 million people are below basic literacy skills. As citizens of this society, students explain the difficulties they have had both at practical and psychosocial level. While they felt ashamed and had difficulties with performing even the basic tasks on their own; participating at a literacy program increased their self-esteem, their likelihood to find full-time employment and their active participation in their communities.

By Aysenur Coban