Again another interesting day.
Presentations to the grade 5 and then grade 6 classes then watched a Canada World Youth project. This involved video interviews and diary cam work with local teens and guess what... one of their primary concerns is substance use.
I also had a really interesting session with the Band Office staff and administrators and again the deep concern everyone has for their community and the desire to create an atmosphere of positive change is very strong.
After supper we did a radio talk show on the local radio station about substance abuse, it will be available on line and translated into Cree so when those are up I'll provide a link.
Thomas, my guide, taxi driver, source of information about the community and interpreter for the week, took me for a boat trip down the river and out to the island that housed the original Fort Albany settlement, the photo is from the old cemetery. Most of the graves were from the late 1800's and a mix of First Nations people and settlers.
Canada is a beautiful country. We are fortunate in many ways. On the trip out and back I was thinking how much substance abuse takes people away from being able to enjoy the simple beauties that are around us every day. Being chemically dependent really robs us of our life and the really difficult part of this is that the chemical dependency also robs us of our ability to see what the matter really is.
Check the Drug Class Facebook Fan page for more photos.
