Me: So Kiddo, do you like school?
Kiddo: Yeah, school is fun.
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Kiddo: I don’t know, maybe work at the mine? I heard they pay a lot of money.
Me: You know, you’re really smart. Make sure you stay in school, try to go to college or university if you can. Then, you can get even better jobs!
Kiddo: Better than working at a mine??
Me: Yeah! There are so many jobs you can do after you go to university or college, and you’re really smart so I know you can do it.
Kiddo: Do those jobs pay more than a thousand dollars?
Me: Way more than a thousand dollars!
Kiddo: Woah….
The kiddo in question was a 10-year-old camper that would pick up a book to read aloud whenever there was a break between activities. He was quiet, courteous, and soaked in information like a sponge. Being from a poorer family, he would always politely ask for seconds and thirds during snack time. The conversation occurred yesterday evening while we were skipping stones on the lakeshore, waiting for a community wedding feast to commence. I was deeply saddened when I realized that the kids here don’t dream of becoming an astronaut or scientist like my friends and I once did. With all police officers, most teachers and most nurses being Southerners, the Inuits chose between working with the government services, the grocery store, or the mines. Even though there is arguably enough job positions, the opportunities were truly limited.
The week was quite the roller coaster ride for the town. Wednesday saw yet another life lost to suicide, and Friday saw the union of a man to a woman. I unfortunately I missed both the funeral and the wedding ceremony. But I did get the chance to attend the wedding “feast” that occurred at the community hall and consisted of caribou stew, buns, rice, and mac ‘n cheese. As well, I participated in the games and square dance that followed. Being quite the dance enthusiast, I quickly jumped into a circle of locals getting their grooves on, only to realize that this wasn’t freestyle but a series of intricate promenades, turns, and partner-switches. I made quite a number of wrong moves, and ended up sweaty from head to toe. It was quite the dance party!
The camps have been going well, we’ve been incorporating a lot more concrete reading and writing exercises such as letter-writing, storytelling, and reading phonic books for the younger kids. We’ve also made efforts to make our snack program more filing (soup and bannock worked out great!), and nutritious (we’re starting to serve fresh fruits). The youth camps are going a lot better once we kept our cool for the first two weeks and earned the respect of the teens. It’s hard to believe that there’s only two more weeks of camp left! I’m truly going to miss this place when I’m gone!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Midsummer Report
As part of QPID (Queen's Project on International Development), each cooperant pair write a midsummer report to inform our donors and alumni of the progress of the projects. It details our observations about the community, what we've learned, and some of our experiences. Here's what Patrick and I wrote:
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After more than a month in Baker Lake, Nunavut, the 2000-people town that seemed at first glance tattered and muddy has now become our home away from home. The community is well-bonded like a large extended family, yet it welcomed us southerners with open arms. The local Inuks are very inviting - we’ve been brought to family barbeques out on the land and taken to island cabins by Kamutiqs (wooden sleigh). It seems that every kid in town knows our names. We receive many waves and greetings, even hugs, in the streets and in the grocery store.
At camp, we’re keeping the kids busy with team-building games, gym time, craft, snack, and lots and lots of reading and writing activities. The Inuit kids are overflowing with enthusiasm for almost every single activity, especially the active ones. They even have a blast running laps! Most kids have difficulty with reading larger texts, grammar and syntax, and writing a cohesive story. While almost everyone lives in a general state of poverty, it is still readily apparent which kids come from more positive and nurturing families. These are the kids that are more confident in reading aloud, and have access to books, papers, and writing utensils at home. But unlike down South, there isn’t as much of a stigma associated with poverty – thus the communities are much more inclusive and everyone works to support those who have the least.
With our evening youth camps, we had the opportunity to glimpse into the lives of the Baker Lake youths. They ask very personal and sometimes inappropriate questions. However we have come to believe that this is not out of rudeness, but rather out of the lack of stringency around privacy due to the strong community bonds. The youths are also heavily influenced by southern pop culture – this can be seen in their clothing, choices of music, and the need for the latest technology such as iPhones and iPods. I also met one of the best teenage beat-boxers I know during my time here.
The locals can be generally categorized into two types: reserved yet warm, and loud and chatty. One thing that seems to carry across the population is a general laid-back attitude. Family and children are top priority, while other Southern values such as education, home-building, and financial planning are not as prominent. The cause of the high unemployment is not the lack of opportunities; in fact many government positions take months to fill. But rather it is the lack of opportunities that local people have enough education and qualifications to take on. The introduction of the mines provided many labour jobs which benefited the community, but on the other hand it introduced a lot of new problems as well. Firstly, miners live and work on site for two weeks at a time, leaving little time for spending with their children and families. Secondly, people that once lived in extreme poverty were suddenly thrown all this cash. With money-saving as a foreign concept, these people give their children excessive allowances and unnecessarily spend money on the latest fads.
In general, low education and skills and an acceptance of the poor social conditions have made many people feel limited in their chances for success in life. There is little outward violence, but what does exist is directed towards family members. High rates of suicide, depression, and a feeling of purposelessness are the biggest adversaries facing the people of Baker Lake.
Despite the many problems we see in the community, Baker Lake is one of the most welcoming and lively towns we have ever encountered. It is perhaps the only place I’ve been to where I feel absolutely safe walking home late at night. The sheer energy and curiosity we see in the kids at camp has many times renewed our hope for this community.
--------------------------------------------------------------
After more than a month in Baker Lake, Nunavut, the 2000-people town that seemed at first glance tattered and muddy has now become our home away from home. The community is well-bonded like a large extended family, yet it welcomed us southerners with open arms. The local Inuks are very inviting - we’ve been brought to family barbeques out on the land and taken to island cabins by Kamutiqs (wooden sleigh). It seems that every kid in town knows our names. We receive many waves and greetings, even hugs, in the streets and in the grocery store.
At camp, we’re keeping the kids busy with team-building games, gym time, craft, snack, and lots and lots of reading and writing activities. The Inuit kids are overflowing with enthusiasm for almost every single activity, especially the active ones. They even have a blast running laps! Most kids have difficulty with reading larger texts, grammar and syntax, and writing a cohesive story. While almost everyone lives in a general state of poverty, it is still readily apparent which kids come from more positive and nurturing families. These are the kids that are more confident in reading aloud, and have access to books, papers, and writing utensils at home. But unlike down South, there isn’t as much of a stigma associated with poverty – thus the communities are much more inclusive and everyone works to support those who have the least.
With our evening youth camps, we had the opportunity to glimpse into the lives of the Baker Lake youths. They ask very personal and sometimes inappropriate questions. However we have come to believe that this is not out of rudeness, but rather out of the lack of stringency around privacy due to the strong community bonds. The youths are also heavily influenced by southern pop culture – this can be seen in their clothing, choices of music, and the need for the latest technology such as iPhones and iPods. I also met one of the best teenage beat-boxers I know during my time here.
The locals can be generally categorized into two types: reserved yet warm, and loud and chatty. One thing that seems to carry across the population is a general laid-back attitude. Family and children are top priority, while other Southern values such as education, home-building, and financial planning are not as prominent. The cause of the high unemployment is not the lack of opportunities; in fact many government positions take months to fill. But rather it is the lack of opportunities that local people have enough education and qualifications to take on. The introduction of the mines provided many labour jobs which benefited the community, but on the other hand it introduced a lot of new problems as well. Firstly, miners live and work on site for two weeks at a time, leaving little time for spending with their children and families. Secondly, people that once lived in extreme poverty were suddenly thrown all this cash. With money-saving as a foreign concept, these people give their children excessive allowances and unnecessarily spend money on the latest fads.
In general, low education and skills and an acceptance of the poor social conditions have made many people feel limited in their chances for success in life. There is little outward violence, but what does exist is directed towards family members. High rates of suicide, depression, and a feeling of purposelessness are the biggest adversaries facing the people of Baker Lake.
Despite the many problems we see in the community, Baker Lake is one of the most welcoming and lively towns we have ever encountered. It is perhaps the only place I’ve been to where I feel absolutely safe walking home late at night. The sheer energy and curiosity we see in the kids at camp has many times renewed our hope for this community.
O, Canada
I’ve spent past Canada Days relaxing at home, at the beach, catching up with old friends; I even spent the last Canada Day roaming the streets of downtown Ottawa - with its seas of people and maple leaves spiraling in the air, printed on shirts, painted on faces, and even sprayed on hair. But Thursday was the first Canada Day I spent hammering nails, sawing off chunks of wood, and poking sticks in caribou antlers. That’s because I spent the day at the Community Recreation Center, taking part in traditional Inuit games that formed part of the Baker Lake Canada Day celebration.
At least a quarter of the 2000-people town was gathered for the festivities. The games were separated by the sexes, and usually involved tossing dice around a circle. Whoever tosses a certain number got to go to the middle of the circle and try to complete a certain task such as sawing a chunk off of the log, hammering 5 nails using the hand that’s not often used, or tying a plastic bag into a knot using one hand. Meanwhile the dice keep getting tossed and the next person to roll that number gets to interrupt the person in the middle and continue the task. The first, second, and third person to complete the task gets cash prizes of $10-$25. Excitement and laughter filled the air as the young and old gathered together, and there was a sense of community that can only be found in small towns.
Other recent adventures include: making great friends with two medical students that are here interning with the local health center, taking walks by the gorgeous lakeshore ( the rocks, the mist, and the lime green colour of the tundra vegetation reminded me of the country of Rohan in Lord of the Rings), canoeing on the half-melted lake while dodging icebergs, and trying (and miserably failing at) ice fishing. The sky started getting a lot dimmer around midnight, which makes me a little sad since I really enjoyed the ever-glowing sun.
The day camps are going great! We’ve divided up each camp into two groups based on Grade Levels. Each day, one level worked with Patrick and me on English while the other level worked with the local leaders on Inuktitut. It’s been working out a lot better since there’s such a vast disparity between the reading and writing levels of the kids because of the relatively age range, and this is accentuated by the varying family backgrounds. We’ve reduced the morning games time by about 15 minutes and used that time to read a book to the whole group. We’ve also directed our literacy times towards much more concrete skill-building activities – such as teaching them how to construct a sentence, playing games with “sight words”, and playing games that involve story writing. In the coming week, we will be having an elder coming in to make bannock and tea with the kids, and we will also start making mini-books.
Last Tuesday, we started evening youth camp, which didn’t go as well as we planned. We had a group of around 10 teens. They weren’t the most respective or cooperative bunch – they even made jokes at our expenses. One of them also came to camp drugged and high. However I am still very optimistic. I believe they were just testing our boundaries on the first day, and I’m sure future camp days will go better; especially since we’re going to have one of our local leaders help us during youth camp from now on. Another thing that really changed my perspective was when I got stopped on the street over the weekend by youth campers asking why there wasn’t camp on Thursday (we cancelled it because of Canada Day and forgot to inform them beforehand). They weren’t angry or accusative, but merely disappointed. Apparently almost everyone from Tuesday night went to the school on Thursday night to a locked door. First of all, I hadn’t expected everyone to return to camp after the first day since so many of them refused to participate in activities. Secondly, I hadn’t expected them to be so let down when camp was cancelled since I didn’t think it meant that much to them. This encounter gave me some renewed enthusiasm and appreciation for the youth camp (and hopefully patience as well). I hope it gets better!
At least a quarter of the 2000-people town was gathered for the festivities. The games were separated by the sexes, and usually involved tossing dice around a circle. Whoever tosses a certain number got to go to the middle of the circle and try to complete a certain task such as sawing a chunk off of the log, hammering 5 nails using the hand that’s not often used, or tying a plastic bag into a knot using one hand. Meanwhile the dice keep getting tossed and the next person to roll that number gets to interrupt the person in the middle and continue the task. The first, second, and third person to complete the task gets cash prizes of $10-$25. Excitement and laughter filled the air as the young and old gathered together, and there was a sense of community that can only be found in small towns.
Other recent adventures include: making great friends with two medical students that are here interning with the local health center, taking walks by the gorgeous lakeshore ( the rocks, the mist, and the lime green colour of the tundra vegetation reminded me of the country of Rohan in Lord of the Rings), canoeing on the half-melted lake while dodging icebergs, and trying (and miserably failing at) ice fishing. The sky started getting a lot dimmer around midnight, which makes me a little sad since I really enjoyed the ever-glowing sun.
The day camps are going great! We’ve divided up each camp into two groups based on Grade Levels. Each day, one level worked with Patrick and me on English while the other level worked with the local leaders on Inuktitut. It’s been working out a lot better since there’s such a vast disparity between the reading and writing levels of the kids because of the relatively age range, and this is accentuated by the varying family backgrounds. We’ve reduced the morning games time by about 15 minutes and used that time to read a book to the whole group. We’ve also directed our literacy times towards much more concrete skill-building activities – such as teaching them how to construct a sentence, playing games with “sight words”, and playing games that involve story writing. In the coming week, we will be having an elder coming in to make bannock and tea with the kids, and we will also start making mini-books.
Last Tuesday, we started evening youth camp, which didn’t go as well as we planned. We had a group of around 10 teens. They weren’t the most respective or cooperative bunch – they even made jokes at our expenses. One of them also came to camp drugged and high. However I am still very optimistic. I believe they were just testing our boundaries on the first day, and I’m sure future camp days will go better; especially since we’re going to have one of our local leaders help us during youth camp from now on. Another thing that really changed my perspective was when I got stopped on the street over the weekend by youth campers asking why there wasn’t camp on Thursday (we cancelled it because of Canada Day and forgot to inform them beforehand). They weren’t angry or accusative, but merely disappointed. Apparently almost everyone from Tuesday night went to the school on Thursday night to a locked door. First of all, I hadn’t expected everyone to return to camp after the first day since so many of them refused to participate in activities. Secondly, I hadn’t expected them to be so let down when camp was cancelled since I didn’t think it meant that much to them. This encounter gave me some renewed enthusiasm and appreciation for the youth camp (and hopefully patience as well). I hope it gets better!
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