On the plane to Mexico

I’ll do a bit of a reflection on today’s events later, but I just wanted to share about an incident that happened on the plane from Atlanta to Guadalajara last night. I found myself sitting between a French guy who was absorbed in the music on his headphones, and a Mexican lady who looked very anxious and totally out of her comfort zone. At one point we were all given the forms we had to fill out for getting in to Mexico – customs forms, immigration etc. The forms varied depending on whether Mexican or not, partly on the language the form was written in, and partly on which immigration form you had.

I noticed that the lady still hadn’t filled hers out even towards the end of the flight, but a few times has said something to a flight attendant when they had come past that included holding up the forms. I wondered if it was a lack of pen that was the problem, so offered her the use of mine, but her response showed that the reality was she couldn’t read the form, or write the answers.

She asked me, in Spanish (which I don’t speak), if I could do the forms for her, and so I did – through comparing my English form to her Spanish form, working out the relevant details, and reading some of the questions to her (how many days away etc), and guessing the occasional answer (reason for visit etc). She was so very grateful to me for doing it, and it reminded me just how disabling illiteracy can be.

I wondered how she had found her way around the airport, how hard it must be to be independent in life, how many times she has to swallow her pride and ask others to do things for her. Every time a form needs to be filled in, or a prescription read, or a written communication sent – help is required. Even though I couldn’t speak the language or read the form, I was more literate in her language than she was.

It was with great relief that I watched the lady go through immigration and not get pulled over for an incorrectly completed form, but as she went I reflected once more on how valuable education is, and how much we must not only not take ours for granted, but also do our bit to help make it a universal provision for all.