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Since 1999, when Phil Fontaine, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, proclaimed the first Friday of May as National Aboriginal Diabetes Awareness Day, people in communities across Alberta have been walking or running their way to good health and a growing awareness of how debilitating a disease diabetes can be.

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A one-year program at the Royal Alexandra Hospital under the supervision of Robert Cardinal will give one person the tools to help other people weather the storms of personal tragedy.

The hospital's Aboriginal Cultural Helper program, run through pastoral care, is looking for a special someone to train from September this year to August next year.

The program was launched in 2000 by Elders Joe P. Cardinal of Saddle Lake, Raven Mackinaw of Hobbema and Madge McCrae from northern Alberta and has graduated five students.

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This month I visited the communities of Ermineskin, Alexander and Alexis, meeting people who are making positive changes in their communities while maintaining their traditional values and spirituality.

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Whatever the future holds for Alan Spoonhunter, he knows it will be brighter than his past.

"Everyone told me that I couldn't do what I did, but five years later I'm almost finished my degree. It wasn't until I was almost counted out that I decided to change and prove that it is possible."

Spoonhunter recently completed his basketball career as a player at the University of Lethbridge. He is a young man whose path in life has led him on a very challenging journey.

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Skip Renee Sonnenberg and the Alberta rink curled their way to a second consecutive victory at the National Aboriginal Curling Championship held April 17 to 21 in Saskatoon.

Sonnenberg stole six in the eighth end against a Loon Lake rink sponsored by Makwa Sahgaiehcan, ending the game with a score of 12-3. Throwing the final stones for Makwa was Jennifer Regnier, who was the National Aboriginal Curling champion in 1995 and who had numerous provincial playdowns this winter curling in Edmonton.

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Kirk Buffalo believes that success begins at home with a firm set of values, a healthy respect for others and a well-developed sense of humor. He believes the home is where it all begins for the family, and, by extension, for the community at large.

Everyone is taught values as children. We need to be reminded of these values when we become adults, said the 46-year-old youth justice circle co-ordinator at Hobbema.

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On April 25, more than 100 people gathered at the Canadian Native Friendship Centre in Edmonton to honor 25 graduates of Grant MacEwan's Mental Health Diploma Program (Aboriginal Connections 2003). The graduation ceremony included a feast, cultural entertainment, a rites of passage ceremony and speeches.

Ruth Suvee is chair of the two-year diploma program. She said she was proud to see the students at the ceremony, because she felt that they deserved to be recognized after all the work they did to achieve academically and in their personal development.

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Carrying signs, an eagle staff, and a talking stick, a group of people who began a walk to Ottawa in Nanaimo, B.C. on April 1 arrived in Hobbema on April 24. The 10 people taking part in the Youth Suicide Prevention walk are hoping to create awareness on the topic of suicide in Aboriginal communities across Canada.

They met with chief and council at the Ermineskin band office where each member of the group stood up and disclosed how suicide has affected their lives.

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The arrival of mosquitoes has never been anybody's favorite sign that the long winter is over, but since the arrival of the West Nile virus in Canada, these tiny creatures are not just an annual annoyance any more.

To deal with this threat to the Canadian public, Health Canada will be working closely with First Nations, to help prevent the spread of the virus within Native communities.

The feds will partner with First Nations to co-ordinate surveillance, testing, education, and methods of preventing the spread of West Nile during the coming mosquito season.

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One of the most important roles in the field of medicine is that of the licensed practical nurse (LPN), who provide essential services in hospitals and home care agencies.

There is a great demand for nurses in the province, and fresh new recruits are welcomed and scooped up almost immediately. The schooling and training to become an LPN is a grueling and time-consuming process, with countless days spent pouring over medical texts and terminology, and countless nights filled with homework.