How may I help you?

Today I worked with some folks on their clearance applications (this is not abnormal), and those people...I felt sorry for them.  They had such a hard time with the computer.  Neither really knew how to do a search for information on the internet.  Both were horrific at typing.  One, being fresh to English and the United States, had a horrible time spelling words we native English speakers (once adults) tend to take for granted that we know how to spell them.

I want to help.

I have for a long time now wanted to teach adults how to read, write, and use computers more effectively, appropriately, or just darn plain better.  It's not about being a "Grammar Nazi," but about helping others succeed.  How difficult must it be to navigate today's society when everyone is using technology and you can barely write a full sentence in English, or find the letters on a keyboard?

But how do I help?

Surely there are organizations or agencies or something local that does this sort of thing and maybe needs volunteers or employees.  Or...I would run one myself - a community learning center where young people can come get help with homework and adults can learn how to use the internet for job searches, the basics of using computers, reading and writing...

But how or where would I even start?

I have no idea.  I just know I have a passion and compassion for this type of thing, and it makes me sad that I've not found a way or an outlet for the skills and desire I have to teach these things.  I actually said to a guy from Liberia that I would like to teach typing and computers to people who needed it and he said he would love to come to that class because I have lots of patience.  (Little does he know!  hahaha!  But, seriously...)  I thought that was a great compliment.

And so I'm stuck.

I want to be doing something very different from what I am doing - something that pays little to nothing - and I have no way to do it.  And that is an awful feeling.