Wash and Read - May 14, 2022

We were speaking at the Kasoa Stake conference on Sunday, May 8, when we heard the stake president announce a “Wash and Read” competition on May 14. Wash and Read? Competition?  I was curious! 

 

Gospel Literacy is a program of six leveled manuals that teach adult participants to read while learning about Jesus Christ and the ordinances of the gospel. Many of the wards across the Area have classes, Kasoa Stake took learning to read to a new level. They decided to hold a reading competition. My American special ed attitudes kicked into play, nervous about how they would adequately reinforce skill improvement and not discourage progress.  

The day of the competition arrived with 40+ women and one man vying for the first prize of a washing machine, second prize a 3-burner gas cooker, and third prize a pressing iron. All those brave enough to compete earned a new plastic wash tub. Like contestants before any test, they sat quietly in their chairs refreshing their skills. These were very humble women who have spent their lives either working on the streets selling or in the market trying to feed themselves and their families. To them the thought of learning to read was no more than a distant hope. Now, they were learning to read words on a page and if they could demonstrate their skills better than everyone else, there was the possibility to take home a washing machine!  

 

President Allotey gave introductory remarks explaining that women spend many of their days washing clothes for their families by hand in a tubs, but with a washing machine a sister would be able to spend her time reading while the machine did the work.  

 

The competition consisted of four rounds. Contestants moved from round to round based on their ability to read gospel words on flash cards, fill in missing words in specific scriptures, identifying Come Follow Me pictures, and spelling gospel words. The field narrowed to ten contestants as they moved from the preliminary round , to round one where the ten earned a seat on the stage a and Wash and Read T-shirt. There they competed for two hours with an audience watching and cheering. Pressure!

In the end the humblest of humble sisters won the washing machine. She was a master at spelling which pushed her over the winner’s line. As the scores were being announced and it became apparent she would win, her hands flew to her face covering her mouth and her knees got weak. Friends from her little branch in the bush rushed to the stage to literally support and congratulate her. It was a real display of sisterhood. It was an event for the books: Wash and Read.