For Anita Argueta, education has always been an integral part of her life.
When she arrived in the United States from Guatemala, Anita brought with her years of education and experience as a teacher. In her home country, she had studied at the university level and taught both children and adults. “My life was perfect there,” she recalls. But economic realities — and the challenges tied to organized crime in her region — made steady work difficult. She made the decision to leave, arriving in North Carolina in search of opportunity.
What Anita did not bring with her was English.
“I knew no speaking, no writing, nothing,” Anita says of her early days in the U.S. The isolation was immediate and profound. Though highly educated, she found herself unable to communicate in daily life, let alone pursue work in her field. For seven years, teaching — the profession she loved — felt out of reach.
Everything began to change when she found Chatham Literacy.
It wasn’t an easy path. Anita first heard about the program in 2023 through a connection at a church, who gave her a phone number. Even then, getting started proved difficult, with delays stretching nearly a year before she was able to begin classes. But once she did, she committed fully.
Now, after about a year and four months of study, the difference is striking.
“Now I understand,” she says simply. Her tutor, Carla Merrill, marvels at Anita’s progress. She says that when Anita first started classes, she knew nothing, but as she began to study, her progress was “rapid, rapid, rapid”.
Anita’s progress is something she’s proud of — but also something others notice right away. Once unable to form sentences, Anita can now follow conversations and communicate at work. During the day, she works in housekeeping. In the evenings, she sometimes translates legal documents from Spanish into English — work that requires both precision and expertise.
“Now I understand for my boss… and a little talking,” she says. It’s a quiet milestone, but a meaningful one — being able to navigate a workplace in a new language.
A big part of that progress, Anita says, is her tutor, Carla. “My teacher is Carla. She is excellent. She is my favorite.”
In their early sessions, it was just the two of them, working through the basics — alphabet, pronunciation, foundational vocabulary. “It was easy,” Anita says of those first steps, though she acknowledges that the material has become more challenging over time.
Beyond language, Chatham Literacy has also given Anita something less tangible but just as important: connection.
“I have many friends here,” she says. In a country where she has spent much of her time alone — apart from a few cousins nearby — those relationships matter deeply. The classroom has become more than a place to study; it is a community.
Today, Anita is looking ahead. She continues to improve her English, driven by a desire to communicate more fully and expand her opportunities. She still holds onto the possibility of teaching again one day.
It’s a future that once felt distant. Now, it feels within reach.
Anita reflects on her experience, “Chatham Literacy changed my life.” Now, she’s beginning the next chapter.