 |
Top News - September - 2003
Published September 15, 2003
 |
||
Hands-on learning on Sask Scene Team
Fundraising efforts begin for hospital
Leaders of the future uniteThis is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the September 2003 issue of Saskatchewan Sage. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sage, then you have missed out on a lot.
Hands-on learning on Sask Scene Team
Cheryl Petten, Sage Writer, Regina
Ten students from the First Nations University of Canada's Indian Communication Arts (INCA) program took part in a unique project over the summer that allowed them to put the skills gained through their studies to work in the real world.
The students made up the Sask Scene team, which travelled to festivals across the province to talk to young people and record their views about the province now and in the future. The results of their efforts can be seen online at www.saskscene.ca.
The team was contracted to complete the project by the Saskatchewan department of Industry and Resources as part of the provincial government's Our Future is Wide Open marketing campaign. It was that campaign that provided the inspiration for the Sask Scene project, explained Shannon Avison, director of INCA.
"We started thinking about marketing Saskatchewan to its own people, and particularly to its own youth. Because that's kind of the big group that we work with, mostly young people. And so we approached the Saskatchewan department of Industry and Resources with a proposal to use our facility in the Indian Communication Arts department, which includes digital video cameras and non-linear video editing suites and sound equipment and lighting and so on, to make use of that equipment. And at the same time to hire students from all levels of our program to go out and talk to youth in Saskatchewan about what it means to be a youth in Saskatchewan. They used the slogan why they want to live, work and play in Saskatchewan, to encourage people to think about why they would stay in Saskatchewan," she said.
"So we went through all the regular negotiations and so on, and the project was approved. And it was approved very quickly. I was actually surprised at how quickly it was approved. I think they were really keen right away, the idea of youth talking to youth was really important. The fact that we were a First Nations institution wasn't really important to start with at all. It was just that we had capacity and sort of a real keen interest in doing this project," Avison said.
An INCA graduate, Tom Jordens, was hired as the project's senior producer, and the rest of the team was made up of current INCA students.
"INCA students tend to double major, because at this point, INCA's a certificate. So we had INCA students who are also film students, and they tended to be more senior and they did a lot of the editing. But people really crossed over. People would shoot and script and edit, and then do the running around and do the office management as well," Avison said.
While the Sask Scene project gave students a chance to polish their technical skills out in the field, they gained something else through the project as well, Avison explained.
"There's lots of skills that are technical or work-related, but the most important one is probably team building. Being able to communicate very well, where you've got somebody going out and doing things and keeping those documents, and then the people who log, and then the people who edit, and the people who take them to get vetted by Industry Resources. We had to schedule carefully, they had to be responsible and meet their deadlines to each other. Not just to the project, but to each other. So teamwork and team building. And really good communication in the professional environment were critical to all that we did," she said.
"And the nice thing too is that the students, they're teaching each other. It's very much a peer teaching/peer learning kind of environment. A university environment where you have sort of the authority figure teacher is all fine and good, but people learn well from their friends. From their peers they learn well, and they learn well also from hands-on and practical experience."
According to Jordens, not only did the Sask Scene project benefit the students participating, but it gave some added attention to INCA as well.
"It was a great opportunity to showcase not only the talents of the students, but also the capabilities of the program, and trying to attract new students to the program," Tom Jordens said.
It also provided the government with a look into what Saskatchewan's young people think about their home province.
"This was kind of a way for them to find out the views of young people in the province," he said. "They wanted to find out what young people thought about the province, and give young people a say in the province."
While the Web site features interviews filmed at 33 events from across the province, Jordens estimated the Sask Scene team visited closer to 50 events.
"We probably interviewed about 200 people on camera. And almost to the person, they were all positive about the province, about their homes, what they saw their futures as, that type of thing. Our target audience was kind of the 16-to-30 -year-old crowd, and probably the majority of them were in their early 20s. And like I said, they all had positive futures. They all want to stay in Saskatchewan," Jordens said.
"It was quite an eye-opener because going into it, you know, I expected to talk to people who liked the province, but I didn't expect to talk to that many people. And I expected to hear a few more complaints or gripes. And in the events I went to, I never heard anyone complaining."
While the project was completed by INCA students using INCA facilities, this was in no way a run-of-the-mill student project. This project was real, with real deadlines and real expectations.
"This was a professional gig. We had a contract with a government department. There was no latitude because we were students. We took it on as a production company, and we had deadlines ... this wasn't like a student make-up project. This was a real contract. And if we didn't carry out our end of the contract, then we wouldn't be paid," Shannon Avison said.
That isn't to say that working on the project was all work and no play. After all, the biggest part of the project involved spending the summer at festivals right across Saskatchewan.
"It was incredible," Jordens said of the experience."First of all, to be able to go to a festival each weekend was really amazing. And our festivals that we attended, we went to powwows, we went to Back to Batoche. We went to Mosaic here in Regina, so those types of cultural events. Musical events, the Flatland Music Festival and the folk festival here in the city, Beethoven at Buffalo Pound. We had a real diverse mixture of music. We went to the Ahtahkakoop sports day, those type of things. So it was just such a broad range of festivals and events that every day was a fun day to come to work, really," he said.
Another project INCA would like to take on is more or less a continuation of the Sask Scene project, this time concentrating of winter festivals. But in the meantime, the Sask Scene Web site has given the program with a valuable tool for marketing their services, providing a concrete example of what INCA students can do.
Fundraising efforts begin for hospital
Stephen LaRose, Sage Writer, Fort Qu'Appelle
Fort Qu'Appelle Indian Hospital (FQIH) officials have begun a campaign to raise $500,000 for new equipment and furnishings for the hospital, which is slated to open in the summer of 2004.
"We want to make sure we have state-of-the-art equipment and comfortable rooms in a professional environment in the new facility," said the president of the FQIH Holding Company, Ron Crowe.
While as much medical equipment and furnishings will be transferred from the old hospital to the new facility as is possible, some equipment will have to be replaced, either now or in the future, Crowe said.
"In a changing environment of health care technology, you have to keep up with the times. We want to make sure we have sufficient resources now and in the future to make sure we are able to replace any machines that break down or become obsolete."
In late August the hospital's board of directors set up a fundraising committee to begin the campaign, which will be working to raise money to meet both current and future needs of the hospital.
"They'll be going out in the next little while to solicit support, activity and funds," he said. "We have obtained charitable status, so all donations will be tax-deductible."
Anyone donating $200 or more will be recognized on the donor board, which will be located in a prominent location within the new hospital.
"We're also giving organizations and people the opportunity to furnish a room-furnish it with a bed, nightstand, chairs, and painting and decorating the hospital room," Crowe said. "Those costs are about $6,000 a room."
The new hospital will offer 14 acute-care beds, laboratory and x-ray facilities, a multi-purpose room that could be used for a dialysis treatment center in the near future, and an ambulance bay.
It will also have space for First Nations health services, including a 'shared vision' center to deal with the legacy of residential schools issues, and an Elders' healing lodge.
Construction on the facility began this spring, and the new facility is to receive its first patients in the summer of 2004.
In Saskatchewan, it's customary for the provincial government to pay for 65 per cent of construction costs for a new hospital. The community, through the health district and fundraising efforts, pays for the remaining 35 per cent, plus the costs of equipping the hospital, ranging from medical equipment to furnishings and bedding.
In 1996 the federal and Saskatchewan governments signed a funding agreement to build hospitals for First Nations health services. This allowed for the construction of three hospitals, including the new FQIH.
The federal government contributed $11.2 million for the projects, which also included hospitals in Stanley Mission and La Ronge. The Regina Qu'Appelle Health Authority and the FQIH Holding Corporation will also spend $1.545 million for hospital expenses and related equipment.
Leaders of the future uniteCheryl Petten, Sage Writer, Winnipeg
Future leaders from across the country will be gathering in Winnipeg next spring to take part in a unique and exciting hands-on learning experience.
Participants drawn from business, labour, government, acadamia and communities from across the country will come together to take part in the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference, which will begin on May 7, 2004, and wrap up in Ottawa-Gatineau on May 21.
The 225 conference participants will be divided into 15 diverse study groups. Each study group will travel to a different part of the country where they will spend two weeks learning about the communities in that area. At the end of the two weeks, the groups will make a report to the Governor General on their observations and experiences.
The leadership conferences began as the Governor General's Canadian Study Conference in 1983, inspired by the success of the Commonwealth Study Conference, an international conference founded by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1956. The Canadian conferences have been held every four years since their inception.
The name was changed for the upcoming conference to put more of a focus on the leadership-building function of the event.
Over the years, a number of people have taken part who have gone on to use what they experienced to their benefit and to the benefit of their communities. Bernd Christmas is the chief executive officer of the Membertou Development Corporation. He took part in the International Commonwealth Study Conference in 1998.
"I guess I was asked to participate by several folk, and understanding the nature of it, which involves various study groups, and you meet up-and-coming leaders, both in the government, private sector and NGO level, as well as the labour movement, I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to get a well-rounded understanding of how all those people think, and where they're going, and make some great contacts. And sure enough, I did," Christmas said.
"At that time, our city was Montreal, and so we had to learn all the facets of Montreal. We met with folks that have helped in promoting the city of Montreal. We met with some big businesses, such as Bombardier, Bell Helicopter. We also met with the social services side, people trying to deal with affordable housing, people running the health care system, all the hospitals in Montreal, the port authority. So it was very interesting, and I guess a knowledge-soaking-up-experience that I'll never forget. I thought it was fantastic."
Christmas explained that he benefited from his involvement in the conference on both a personal and professional level, and that he has been able to pass those benefits on to his community.
"I definitely know it has given me a more rounded experience, and makes me think in a bigger context. Meaning not just thinking about my community ... I think about how Membertou plays a role in Canada, or outside of Canada, and I think bringing all those experiences and all that knowledge back has helped me as CEO of the band. It made my job a lot easier, and made our community more exposed to the outside forces that are constantly pounding on our doors. And our community, fortunately, has embraced that, and therefore it's made it a lot easier," he said.
"I think from there, just the personal knowledge, the contacts, and how they've been able to help both on a personal level and a professional level, it gives you other ideas that you would never normally think of. For example, Membertou is involved with some big, large partners in the world, bidding to supply 28 helicopters. Would we have ever thought of that? No, we would not have thought of that if I had never been exposed, or others in our organization weren't exposed to the global forces that are impacting on our community."
In addition to being a conference alumni, Bernd Christmas is a member of the conference executive, and is involved in developing the event coming up next year.
"I'm pretty excited about the fact that, being an Aboriginal person, that there's going to be 15 study groups and we've already been able to solidify at least one member of Indigenous origin to be in each group. So we'll have a guaranteed 15 people involved."
While this isn't the first time there have been that many Aboriginal people participating in the conference, it is the first time a specific effort has been made to guarantee Aboriginal inclusion.
"This time there is a solid commitment to do that, and that's what's making my life very exciting," he said.
But the Aboriginal content of the conference doesn't stop there, Christmas added. The opening session of the conference will feature a showcase of Aboriginal culture, and organizers are working to line up a prominent Aboriginal leader to speak at the event.
"I know the various committees across the country that are dealing with each province and region are trying to make sure that the study groups themselves will be exposed to First Nations. And that's sort of my mantra, to make sure that happens."
By participating in the conference, people can gain experiences and knowledge they're not likely to be exposed to anywhere else, Christmas explained.
"Whether you're Native or non-Native, I think it will give you amazing insight into how diverse and global Canada really is. The way I always look at it, the world comes to you in these various study groups, and to meet all kinds of Canadians from different backgrounds, and being exposed to different communities in Canada, whether you're going to a Native community or Métis community or the city of Winnipeg or you're going to the city of Montreal. There's just so much that's out there that you would never be able to do if you had to do it on your own. It just doesn't happen. The line-up of folks that they introduce you to, and the companies and the government folks that they introduce you to, you know, you could never do that unless you were yourself, personally, highly connected with all those sectors. So I think that's probably the most exciting thing, is just the getting to know how truly big Canada is and how diverse it is, and all the different cultural backgrounds that are there. And how important it is that First Nations are a part of this all, and how Canada embraces our people."
The deadline for applying to be a participant in the Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference is Nov. 1. For more information, visit the conference Web site at www.leadership2004.ca.