Third World Canada

Reminds me of some of the things I saw this summer. Please watch and spread the word. Please consider what needs to be done. I'm not really sure, but I know I can't do nothing.

3rd World Canada - 5 min Preview from Andree Cazabon on Vimeo.

Summer's end

Well, it's over: my summer in Wabaseemoong. I'm back in southern Ontario. Not quite back home yet, but I will be tomorrow night.

The last day was a good day. We decorated cookies with the kids, played games, and gave out goodie bags with records of achievement to each child. All of the kids enjoyed their cookies and treats. Some of the kids seemed sad.

We had a few youth hang around the house while we packed up the car. It felt strange to say good-bye. I wondered if I would ever come back.

Looking back over the summer, I am grateful for what I've seen, learned, experienced and helped out with. Too much to sum up in a blog, I'm hoping my bits and pieces of writing from the summer have given at least a glimpse of what was going on.

If you're reading, and if you were praying, thank you. Please continue to pray for the people of White Dog, for increased quality of life and education - not by White, Western standards, but by the standards intended for them - for all - when people were first breathed into creation.

My Last Night in Wabaseemoong

Well here's a first, me blogging in retrospective lookingbackness with my packing done. Usually I am typing on a messy floor surrounded by half-packed clothes and junk. It's late and I'm tired, and tomorrow is my last day in White Dog. Where did 7 weeks just go?

I feel many things. Tired. Excited to road trip home with my friend through Ontario's finest wilderness (Kenora through Thunder Bay and on to Sault Saint Marie, then check out the American side of things on through to Toronto, and on to Ottawa after that). Sad to leave the kids behind. Sad to leave my roommates - yes, after weeks of living in close quarters, I will still miss them! We've become a bit like family. Anxious about marketing myself to schools for substitute teaching. Excited for substitute teaching year two. Looking forward to seeing friends and family and church, and to get settled in my new place. Wondering how I'll feel about White Dog and my summer once I'm back home.

That last one's an important one. How will I feel? How have I felt? I haven't been journalling. I should have. I realized the other day that everything here is so normal that once felt so strange. I notice especially when I talk to my friends and family, or anyone really, who's not from here.

Tomorrow we will debrief. This will be important, discussing the summer with the team. I should take notes. For now I should sleep. Lots ahead of me! Cookies and kids and hours in the car.

Goodnight!

more kid stuff

Today a girl was wearing socks while she was swimming. "Why are you wearing socks?" I asked. She told me, "So I don't slip." Makes sense, maybe?

* * *

One of the kids likes to make the Chewbacca noise with us when we drive him home after READ. It's a beautiful harmony of three people in the best Wookie voices possible. I don't think he knows that his "ggrgrrgllllrrglll" is from Star Wars, though.

Kid Moments

Me: "Do you remember my name?"
Little Girl: "Kitty!"

* * *

Teenage girl: "You know who you look like?"
Me: "Lady Gaga?"
Girl: "How'd you know?!"

(A few students from schools in Ottawa have made the same remark. This particular teen likes to call me "Hey, Lady Gaga" every time she sees me).

* * *

Me: "My cat's name is Peter."
Kid: "Peter Griffin?"

(Peter Griffin is the dad from Family Guy)

* * *

I've been reading "Walter the Farting Dog Goes on a Cruise" to the kids. So far only one kid has laughed out loud at the book. This same child has had me read it three times. The other kids just sit and listen quite seriously, even with my funny voices and sound effects. Otherwise they don't seem to find it funny. I can't understand. How is farting not funny? The cruise loses power and it's Walter's farts which propel the boat back to the port. Not funny when you're six?

* * *

One of the children we tutor has a developmental delay. I say "we" because my coworker has joined with me to help this child, since he's especially energetic. Some prime examples of his energy include:
- throwing muddy puddle water at us
- running away and hiding in the school
- locking himself in the bathroom
- trying to spray us with the hand sanitizer
- grabbing the Windex bottle from the counter and spraying us for at least ten minutes, requiring the use of bristol board as shields so we could protect ourselves. He continued to spray as he ran to the bathroom to hide behind the stall. He stood on the toilet and sprayed us from above the stall wall.

I should add, all of the above were done with lots of laughter on his part. Mostly I laughed after the fact.

This same child also has made the effort to return after we've said goodbye just to shake my hand. How gentlemanly!

Today he marched like a soldier with me to the car. He also gave me props and some high fives when we dropped him off. We may barely read with this child, but we certainly have a lot of fun. Tag is his favourite.

* * *

Another volunteer who shares a classroom with me was teaching a kid about the letter J. She was sounding out the letter "j-j-j" and reading words that started with J. "J-j-j-jam. Jam." The kid responded, "Jam - toe jam!"

The good and...

In three weeks I will be leaving the reserve to come back to southern Ontario. I don't want to leave yet. I do want to see my friends. But I like the pace of life here, the children we read with, that children come to our door just to hang out (well, some come to get freezies and leave), that I open my back door every morning to stare out at mostly untouched nature, not a building in sight on the other side...

All that said, I don't want to idealize or paint paradise of this place. There are good things. There are also tough things. I'm hesitant to write about the problems. It's easy to talk freely about the beauty, the joys, the successes. There are many of those. I'm uneasy about sharing just yet of other parts of res life. I think I could say many Canadians have a vague perception of what it might be like through the news and other media sources. There are many stereotypes portrayed, however, which aren't exactly true or fair.

What I want to emphasize is that seeds of hope are growing. We need to keep praying. As was discussed in our Bible study last week, we also need to start being the answers to our own prayers - by that I mean not just shrugging responsibility off to some Higher Being, but allowing the possibility that this Higher Being might have given us the ability to do something about our prayers ourselves. We say "God, please help that person" and maybe He says back to us, "Why don't you help that person?" This doesn't mean I know how, exactly. Maybe that is the prayer: not "God help them", but "God, how can I help them?"

For tonight, I pray for wisdom, energy and lots more joy. Laughter is always a good start!

One Day Past the Hump

It's raining again in Wabaseemoong. Beth is slaving away in the kitchen, the other Ottawans are upstairs talking to their youth pastor on the phone, Clark is entertaining his biggest fan on the reserve, and I'm sitting here listening to The Avett Brothers. And the odd crack of thunder.

Ten bucks says we'll loose power again soon. And probably our recently re-ignited wireless connection.

Yesterday was "Hump Day". That's the half-way point of the summer. For three of us, it's past half, since we need to leave a few days early. I'm getting a ride home with Beth, who's got a family reunion/wedding shower in Uxbridge on the 21st.

I'm praying that we'll make the best of our last four weeks here, for good relations with the kids, that they'll learn and have fun, and that somehow we can exemplify God's love.

Blueberries and Space

We took some girls berry and wild-flower picking today. Here's me and my meager finds after an hour of picking blueberries and raspberries. I've got a new appreciation for the olden days! It's also wonderful to not worry about pesticides or washing them. Pure, natural, God-given fruit.

Just as an aside: I'd love to post pictures of the children, but since this is such a public space, I'll be keeping those offline. Friends, feel free to get in touch and I can share photos with you privately.

Things are better in terms of our living space. While we still have a leaky shower, we now have a phone and another apartment for the boys. The six of us still eat together, but it's nice to have a little more space, especially since the four of us girls were sleeping in one room. We now are two to a room, which makes life a little easier.

Whenever I want to complain about things that seem tough, I have to remember how some others in the community live. Some houses are in worse shape and have many more people living in one-level homes. In some ways it seems odd to come in as a volunteer and have more space. Leaky showers keep us humble, I guess --> the words of a spoiled Westerner.

All is well this fine Saturday. The Literacy Camp people have invited us over for a potluck. This gave me an excuse to bake my favourite cake: chocolate with vanilla icing. Mmmmm.

3.5 Weeks In

We're continuing to get into the swing of things with the READ program. It's been both encouraging and discouraging: encouraging when the children get excited to come and we can see them progressing and building their literacy skills. We play games and read with them to help with basics like phonics (how letters sound) and high-frequency words (the, this, is, and, etc). Sometimes it can be discouraging, like when the kids aren't around or seem frustrated/bored or don't listen. For the most part, they like coming and seem to feel good about themselves when they learn new concepts.

On top of READ we're still taking kids swimming down the road and making bracelets with some of the older girls in the evenings. White Dog feels more normal as time passes. I'm happy to be here to help the children, even when it is difficult.

This past weekend I got out to the Winnipeg Folk Fest, which was a wonderful four day break. So much good music! My friend and co-volunteer Beth and I were blessed by good, warm hospitality via a place to sleep in the city at my friend Laura's. We also got the chance to visit Grain of Wheat church. Our friend Joel from Manitoba Pioneer Camp was sharing a message on baptism. Our other friends Joy & Jer from MPC talked about their upcoming move to Morroco. They'll be taking their three kids along, living amongst a Muslim population, teaching at a school, and hoping to be a positive, restorative presence in the community.

Back in White Dog, we could use prayer for our team with six people in one two-bedroom house. Our shower still leaks into the kitchen, however, we finally got a washer and dryer, as well as two new mattresses and another couch. This means no one is sleeping on air-mattresses anymore. Please pray that we would continue to reach the children as we mentor, tutor and play, and also that we would be a blessing to White Dog as a whole.

Thanks, peace, and miigwetch.

A Quiet Saturday Morning in Wabeseemong

I've been enjoying a quiet morning to myself for the past few hours. Maybe it's an older-person thing, but I love waking up earlier than everyone else. I make french-press coffee, sit on the couch by the window, and stare out at the trees, sky, rocks, and river. It's my favourite time to pray, read and listen. Like right now: the thunder is rolling lightly, I'm listening to the rain fall and the wind blow. It's dark in here at ten am, for the clouds are thick and heavy today. I'm happy for a Saturday to relax and get errands done around the house. I'm just hoping the storm won't take away our electricity.

Kids have continued to come by our home in the late afternoon and evenings. They are curious and perhaps a little bored. The past few days hemp necklaces were being made. Yesterday nails were painted on the front porch and portraits were drawn on the back. The two girls I drew said no one has ever drawn them before!

Woah! It just started pouring so hard I can no longer see the river! Whenever it rains this hard I get a little nervous in my belly. I am also reminded that we are fortunate to have shelter, to stay dry, and that I have hot coffee in my mug beside me.

Last night we met and welcomed in some new neighbours. They are three people working for the Lieutenant Governor's Literacy program. They will also be here most of the summer running camps for the children. While our purpose and focus may be somewhat different, there are opportunities for partnership and at minimum, some new friends in White Dog.

Miigwetch.

July 1st

READ got underway yesterday. We met the children and introduced them to the program. In my brief sessions with each child, I can see already why Agidasin Initiatives has developed this type of tutoring program for younger primary children. The kids are super cute and I pray we will see progress, not just in literacy skills, but also in relationship building.

Some kids and teens have been stopping by our home where us volunteers live. Last night we started making hemp necklaces with some of the girls on our front porch.

Today is Canada Day, so we're not working. There are community games today and fire works tonight. At the moment we're enjoying a slow, relaxing day, catching up on personal business. I practiced guitar on the back deck and watched the pelicans and black birds soar. I could see a bunch more pelicans down in the river, but they were quite far away.

My Backyard

Not the greatest of photos (webcams don't give great resolution), but here's what I get to look out at every day from the back side of the teacherage where we live this summer.

Almost There

We moved out of Longbow Lake Bible Camp and into White Dog today. When we arrived to the teacherage we're living in for the summer, we found it with no refrigerator, no laundry and just one mattress. It was pretty dirty, too. After a few moments of discouragement, such as "what about all of the groceries we just bought?", we got straight to cleaning and organizing. Our director, Austin, got talking to the neighbour who not only lent us some fridge and freezer space, but also her vacuum and a dish towel - all very important items in getting the place to feel more homey.

Currently we're all back at Austin's place in Minaki, about 45 minutes away, sitting with stomachs full of grilled cheese, salad and tomato soup, sharing stories, with hot tea on the stove. The thunder and lightning is periodically rumbling and lighting up the sky, the rain is falling lightly, and all seems well.

I am thankful for this wonderful team of people. Not a lazy soul among us (or perhaps they're good at hiding it like me). Tomorrow will be another day of getting last-minute supplies in Kenora and trying to get settled in our home for the next eight weeks. The best part about the place is the backyard view: a perfect northwestern Ontario scene: trees, rock and river. Monday we'll be meeting the children and their parents who will participate in READ and the Arts & Rec programs this summer.

For now, we rest.

***

P.S. Bald eagles, pelicans, four black bears, and two foxes have been spotted. Many many mosquitoes and black flies, too. I'm scratching new and old bites and thankful the swollen eye I woke up to has now gone back to normal. I get at least one of those bites every year.

From Kenora with Love

My talk at Grassroots Church on what I'll be doing with Agidasin went well. People came up to me and shared various pieces of their Aborginal connections. One woman shared that her mom was Aboriginal from Manitoulin, but never ever talked about it.

Chris & Shawnee gave me a ride to Kenora on Sunday. We had a great drive catching up and getting to know each other better. We arrived to Longbow Lake Bible Camp, where Agidasin's orientation week is taking place.

I learned when I arrived that I'm actually going to be in White Dog this summer, and not Grassy Narrows as originally planned. I'm fine with that - I'll still be tutoring kids through READ. It's actually better because I'll be more connected to my team, since we'll all be living in the same house. This may be challenging with six people in a small townhouse: four women, two men, two bedrooms, one bathroom. You be the judge. I've met most of my team and they're great people, so I'm not too worried. We're sitting in the local cafe right now discussing what we'll be eating, how we'll do groceries, all those fun living-in-community things to work out.

Tomorrow we'll be headed to White Dog to celebrate with the school. It's graduation day. I'm looking forward to getting acquainted with the the people and community.

As an aside: the bugs aren't TOO bad, which is good. Except for last night when Beth and I sat on the dock to play guitar. I did get bitten a few times through my jeans! Welcome to Northwestern Ontario! I saw a fish jump right out of the water Free-Willy style to catch his dinner, and many turtles. Dear spotting has happened, too. No bears or eagles or pelicans yet.

Gotta get back to camp now, so until next time, peace!

Here we go!

Orientation begins tomorrow! And tomorrow I'm sharing at Grassroots Church in Thunder Bay about Agidasin Initiatives. Praying for, well I'm not even sure. Praying for attentiveness to God's Spirit. For openness. For clarity. And joy.

Peace be with you.

One week to go!

It's hard to believe that I have been teaching for nearly seven weeks. I should really clarify, I don't teach so much as facilitate learning, mark, and build relationships with my students. In many ways I feel as though I am being paid to learn. Being a teacher in the alternative school system, in a culture different from my own, has proved very rewarding. I have been fortunate to attend two camping trips with my students, for which I am truly grateful. Elders, singers, drummers, corn soup (!!), canoeing, swimming, campfires, medicine walks, and great conversations are just some of the many highlights of these trips. The end of this full-time teaching term will be a sad one. I could write a novel about all of the stories and learning that has happened.

Just hours after my last day at the school I will be on a plane to Thunder Bay. I'm stopping there first to reconnect with old friends from teachers' college. The church I attended while at Lakehead U called Grassroots, is also giving me some time to share with the congregation about Agidasin Initiatives. There is a partnership in the works between Grassroots and AI, which excites me very much. Pastor Chris and his wife Shawnee will be driving me to Kenora from Tbay, so they can meet Austin and Rachel, the couple who run AI. I certainly don't mind driving with Chris & Shawnee for the five hour trip, not to mention it means I won't have to take the bus!

Orientation will just be getting underway when I arrive to Kenora on the 20th. By June 26th we will be moving to our respective communities. I cannot wait to meet the team and especially the people we will be serving and working for!

Like I said before, I have been learning so much through my job with the Aboriginal Alternative High School. To call it a blessing doesn't even begin to describe it. What's more, the way everything is coming together, the support coming in, the connections being made - it all blows my mind. Words won't do justice so I'll stop the rambling.

One last thing before I go: this weekend is the National Forgiven Summit, an Aboriginal conference about forgiving the wounds of the past in order to move forward in grace and love (at least, I think that's what it's about? see i4give.ca for proper info). How incredibly timely and relevant, just days before I head out to the reserve. I hope to learn more about people's experiences with the injustices and what some Aboriginal people are doing to deal with such hurts in a positive way.

Until next time, miigwetch!

On Camp & Respect

This past week a camp was organized for high school students in the area who are or will be taking Native Studies. It was held at a camp on the Ottawa River, about an hour west of the city. Teachers and students gathered to learn from Aboriginal and Inuit people about various cultural practices such as smudging, talking circles, sweat lodges, Inuit Throat singing, drumming and games, and more. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend. Not only would I get to be out in the woods for two days, but I'd get to learn and experience more about FN people and ways of life.

Highlights of the two days included interacting with staff and students outside of the stuffy classroom environment, sharing meals together, laughing, camp fires, and watching young people open themselves up to a culture that for most, was quite different than their own. I got to watch my own students open up and teach their peers about their background. I listened to beautiful singing and drumming by my colleague.

The most special part was listening to a 96 year old Elder speak. Grandfather William shared about sustainability and going back to the ways of the past. He prayed to the Creator that we would save this earth, that healing would come. He spoke of respect, one of the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Respect of self, of each other, and the world we live in. Never have I seen a group of teenagers more quiet, more respectful, than in this room listening to the Grandfather. It was hot in that room, but no one was complaining. Just open ears to hear the wisdom of nearly a century's worth life experience.

I went to thank him for sharing. I had no tobacco tie to offer, as others were giving. He said that was okay. He held my hand and I knelt beside him and he talked about the water. The water is being polluted he said, and we need to take care of it, to respect it, to heal it. I promised him I would try and I would encourage others to do the same.

There's something about old people. About people who are closer to death than we are. Like they know something we don't (and they know lots of things we don't!!). Why oh why is Western culture so anti-aging? This man was so special. Every wrinkle on his face tells a story. Every spot, gray hair - his quiet voice pulls you in closer to hear. I wish we all had more respect.

A word on HST

Some thoughts from the Facebook group called "First Nation and Aboriginal Rights":

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/posts/454154?m=0ce4b78a

Update on teaching

Teaching at the Aboriginal high school is going really well. I'm really more of a guide, facilitator and motivator at this school than a teacher. The alternate system is quite different than your typical teacher-at-the-front-of-the-class envorionment.

I'm learning so much every day about First Nation and Inuit culture, about how HST is going to affect Aboriginals tax exemptions, about cultural sensitivity and openness. What a blessing these past two weeks have been.

Every so often I am hit with the "oh yeah! I'm teaching full-time right now!" thought. I have to remember not to take this for granted. It's no simple "in" when it comes to finding longer-term work as an Occasional Teacher in Ottawa. Sometimes I forget because getting the job was almost instantaneous. Remembering my provision comes from God keeps me humble... hopefully!

blessings

More cool news: I just landed an LTO (Long Term Occasional) position at an Aboriginal high school here in the city. I will be teaching there until the day I fly north for the summer!

Just before I was called for the interview, I saw one of the students on the street who attends this school. Not just any student, he was the one who came to mind as I prayed about whether or not I should volunteer with AI this summer. He lives in a shelter. He's 21, and is likely to not finish his high school education. I was disappointed to see him out on the street again during school hours (I run into him quite a bit). I hope he finishes. I really do. He has such a wonderful personality and presence.

I cannot believe I got this job! What a blessing from God, and how suiting to be teaching in the Aboriginal school, right before I go to serve Aboriginal youth in Grassy Narrows.

Sometimes people will say it's a coincidence, or the stars are alligning. I'd like to believe God is the one behind all of this!

I am reminded of this verse: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28)