Juleus Ghunta.
Juleus Ghunta
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Juleus Ghunta
Juleus Ghunta.
Juleus Ghunta
This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.
Juleus Ghunta is a published children’s author and award-winning poet. But growing up, he could barely read.
Ghunta and his three siblings lived in a rural area in western Jamaica. They were raised by a single mother, and she often had to make difficult choices about how to use their limited resources, including the decision to send her older sister to school and keep Ghunta at home.
“Life was very difficult for us,” he recalls.
When Ghunta finally went to school, he was unable to catch up in reading. Not only had he been kept at home as a child, but he had not been exposed to books.
By the time he entered sixth grade, he could spell his name, but he still couldn’t make out words, spell, or read with comprehension. The situation was made worse by a series of teachers who made him feel worthless.
“A lot of the teachers were not very patient, not very nice,” he said.
“I struggled at school with a deep sense of loss, shame and humiliation.”
When Ghunta was around 12 years old, a young teacher-in-training decided to start a special reading program for struggling students. Ghunta was the first student to enroll. This teacher, whose name he no longer remembers, would become Ghunta’s unsung hero – the person who changed his life.
“The professor was incredibly kind to me,” he laments. “She was patient. She was creative. She didn’t ask anything of me except that I work hard and believe in myself.”
Under his guidance, Ghunta’s reading skills finally began to improve. And his feelings of inadequacy began to dissipate.
“She left me with the gift of literacy,” he said. “And with a deeper appreciation of my personality and my worth as a human being.”
An illustration from his book Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows, by illustrator Rachel Moss. It depicts Juleus Ghunta and his teacher described in his unsung hero story.
Juleus Ghunta
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Juleus Ghunta
An illustration from his book Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows, by illustrator Rachel Moss. It depicts Juleus Ghunta and his teacher described in his unsung hero story.
Juleus Ghunta
After Ghunta’s experience with the professor, his life took a new direction. He graduated from elementary school with a number of academic awards, including one for “best improvement in reading.”
He went to college, then to graduate school. He is now the author of two children’s books, including Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows: a story about ACEs and hope, about overcoming difficult childhood experiences. He is currently working on his first full collection of poetry.
In 2010, Ghunta returned to his old school to ask the principal and teachers if they knew the name of his former teacher. But no one did it. He still hopes to find her one day, so he can say thank you for seeing her potential.
“I would like her to see the significant impact she had on my life, and how I carried that memory of her – the hope, the light, with me – and how it continues ‘be a source of joy.’
My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes come out every Tuesday. To share your unsung hero’s story with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.
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