All she ever wanted - A story for adults and children

In a small village on the east side of Jamaica, lived a mother, a father and their 2 children. Justine and her brother John was the son and daughter of Josephine and Jeffrey. They lived in a big house which Jeffrey built by himself just before he got married 15 years ago. Josephine has never had a job in her life and unfortunately, she also can't read or write as she never went to school.

Jeffrey worked very hard to provide for his family, every day. He was a woodcutter. Every morning he went out very early into the woods and each night he would bring home dinner in the form of an animal that he hunted while chopping wood. It was always a surprise for his family to see what he would bring home and they could not wait for him to come home at night.

It was Justine's job to help her mother in the kitchen. She had to peel potatoes, bake bread, wash dishes and make sure that the oven was cleaned daily. John had a very nice job indeed. All he had to do, was to make sure that the lawn was mowed once a week and he had to read recipes whenever his mother and sister needed to bake something.

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Because John already learned how to read and write at school, he was considered to be the clever child. His mother and father didn't want to give him too many tasks as that would take away time for him to study. On the other hand, Justine's education was not important enough so she had to miss school regularly to help her mother around the house.

"Justine, please sweep the floor!" she would hear her mother say. "Justine, is the table set?"

This never seemed to bother Justine until one day when she met another girl who could read and write. It was one afternoon while she was down by the river collecting water when she heard a voice coming from somewhere nearby. It was the most beautiful voice she had ever heard and although she didn't have much time, she was curious to see who it was. She followed the voice until she got to a young girl who sitting between the bushes, reading a book to herself, practicing her reading skills.

The girl paused when she saw Justine. "Hi, my name is Anna, who are you?" the girl said.

Justine smiled, waved at Anna and then quickly picked up the bucket of water and headed home. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Anna's ability to sit around and read while she had to do nothing but work work work.

At home, Justine felt very miserable when her mother asked her to iron the laundry. "Mama, why must I always work in the house?" she asked her mother.

"Because it is a woman's job, my dear!" replied her mother.

"Then what is a man's job, mama?" she asked her mother again.

"To put food on the table, my dear!" replied her mother.

"But mama, what if I don't like working in the house?" she asked with a frown on her face.

"Do you rather want to go into the woods, chop wood and hunt animals all day, my dear?" her mother sarcastically answered.

"No mama, but I want to be able to read and write like John does." Justine said with a faint smile on her face. "When I grow up, I want to be a teacher!"

Her mother did not respond and just kept on folding the laundry, clearly indicating that it's time for Justine to start ironing.

That night, Justine didn't sleep well at all. She kept thinking about things she never thought about before. Who is Anna? Why doesn't she work in the house? What makes boys better than girls? Am I not clever? I can put food on the table!

The next day, Justine couldn't wait to go down to the river again. She hoped that Anna would be there again so that she could see what the difference was between the two of them. This time, she did not hear anything, but Anna was sitting in the same spot writing with a pen on a piece of paper.

"Hi, my name is Justine" she said.

Anna looked happy to see her and invited her to join her. There didn't seem to be any difference between the two of them at all, but Justine just wouldn't give up. She had to know.

"May I ask you a question?" Justine asked. Anna nodded and Justine continued, "Don't you help your mother at home?"

Anna looked surprized at the question and took a few moments before she replied.

"I help my mother all the time." Anna said.

Justine looked confused and Anna started giggling. "I used to be like you, Justine. Everyday, I would work hard in my home to help my mother and then in the afternoons, I came here to fetch water. I met a girl here who taught me how to read and write and ever since then, I now teach my mother to read and write too. I help her by educating her and then she rewards me some time off during the afternoons to write stories and to teach others the same thing. I can teach you, if you'd like?" Anna said.

"I'd like that very much. Thank you Anna!" Justine happily replied.

That evening, Justine told her mother about Anna. Josephine could see that her daughter wanted very much to live another life and that she was just a little girl with big dreams. She took Justine's hands and they both started crying together and they decided to make a few changes in their lives.

The next day, Justine's family had a meeting. They listed all the chores and shared them out fairly. John has to help around the house when he comes home from school with his sister, and after Justine has helped to prepare the dinner table, she may visit Anna to improve whatever she learned that day at school. Josephine found a caretaker who cleaned and ironed every other day and she, herself, learned to read on her days off.

"Thank you, Mama," said Justine. "Now it's fair."

Justine grew up happily. She became a teacher and promotes gender equality in her community!