mkdir and rmdir possible but not readdir and opendir???

Hi, I'm having trouble understanding why I can create and delete directories with my script via mkdir and rmdir, but not simply being able to read them with opendir or readdir? For example, when I attempt to access these directories with opendir, I get this error message: Warning: opendir(): SAFE MODE Restriction in effect. The script whose uid is 789 is not allowed to access... Safe Mode is on as I am hosted on a shared server and cannot change this. Surely there's a work-around for this? Any helpfull input would appreciated Thanks, -s