It’s never too late to learn. Usually, most of us learn to read when we are still children. For various reasons, there are children who have to drop out of school to devote themselves to work and meet household expenses. And often they reach adulthood without knowing how to read or write, or add and subtract; but the desire to learn remains. Francisco Santana Filho is a 68-year-old Brazilian who could not read. For 4 decades, he has been selling ice cream in front of a primary school. Fortunately for him, one day he meets Bárbara Matos, a girl with a big heart who decides to teach him to read and write.
The man devoted himself to working and working all his life and reached old age without having learned the most basic things. By chance, she ended up selling ice cream in a school, but she never imagined that one day, after so many years, someone would offer her to be her teacher. 9-year-old Barbara decided to buy an ice cream and suddenly wanted to know something about the seller. She asked him if she could read and the man said no. She told him later that she had never been able to learn because she had not had the opportunity to go to school but that he had not lost the desire to study. Without thinking twice, Barbara told Francisco that she would be his teacher and teach him how to read and write. Since then, every day, the girl stays extra time after finishing her lessons to help the seller. From a student, she became a teacher and she does it very well. For his part, Francisco gets to work selling ice cream and when the time comes, he becomes a student. At the school gate, they both sit down to study.
“She is my teacher. He is a sweet and special person. When I left, she stayed to teach me the alphabet,” says Francisco. Gradually, the seller began to recognize letters and words. Day after day, Barbara prepares to teach Francisco something new. Today, a teacher from the Diocesan College, Rizélia Sobreira, is also in charge of instructing the saleswoman and accompanying the young girl in her steps. As a child, Francisco dreamed of becoming a journalist but was never able to achieve it. He now wants to concentrate on being able to read and write very well, and then he will continue with mathematics.
He can now write a few expressions and above all, he knows how to write his name. This particular story became famous after the teacher took a photo of the duo while she was studying and shared it on social media. Many recognized the girl’s generosity and initiative as well as the man’s desire to excel. They congratulated them for the noble and beneficial action they are carrying out and which is already bearing fruit.
