Hello! It's been awhile, but I would like to wrap up my Engage North journey through this final blog post. Better late than never! The last two weeks became one of emotions for me; I had grown so attached to Beaver and all that had surrounded me. Sitting here at home, I get a bit … Continue reading Week 14 & 15: Being Out on the Land and Goodbye To a Jorney

It finally happened; one of the biggest projects I had been working on has come to light. After months of preparation, our Community Engagement/Green Energy Job Fair has happened! Community Engagement meetings are a big thing in the world of planning; they are a way Community members can get involved, learn about what’s going on … Continue reading Week 12 and 13:Green Energy Job Fair

Apologies in advance for my late post; the weeks have been quite busy times! Nonetheless, some exciting events have happened that I would like to share with you. I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Eleske Pilgrimage, a weekend of religion to the community. A majority of Beaver is Catholic. There is a beautiful … Continue reading Week 10 and 11: Eleske Pilgrimage, High Level Carnival & TLU Surveys

Apologies in advance as my blog post is a late! These past two weeks have been some of cultural activity; activity full of spirituality and rediscovering! This week, I had the pleasure of attending the Dene Tha’ Annual Assembly! It was an experience in itself! Being Indigenous to Cambodia, I don’t know very much about … Continue reading Week 8 and 9: Dene Tha’ Assembly and Community Garden Progression

Just as things had been running smoothly...On a Monday night...It happened. It had been a dark and cloudy day; nothing had been expected to occur. Cat guards were still being implemented and winds were picking up like they would. It wasn’t so much of a worry as it had been happening for awhile now. However, … Continue reading Sixth and Seventh Week: Evacuation and BFN Strong

My continuing journey has definitely been one of experiences. Throughout these two weeks, things hit a climax and escalated towards an evacuation alert in my community! However, this brought our staff together to do something great; planning an emergency management plan for our Nation. I had the wonderful opportunity of joining in on this training … Continue reading Fourth and Fifth Week: Meetings and Getting Back In The Swing of Things

My journey thus far has been an unexpected one; a series of unfortunate events for my surrounding communities, but surprisingly a pleasant one for myself. The wildfire started about two weeks ago; it was quite a concern for everybody. High Level was being evacuated and people were coming in our community as evacuees. The first … Continue reading Second and Third Week: Wild Fires

Northern Alberta has definitely been an experience of sorts thus far, and I think I’m already loving it. Arriving in High Level was definitely very different. It was very rural; something I have very little experience with as an urbanist. Taking in the views of the countryside was definitely an eye opener for me, it … Continue reading My First Week: Arrival in the Communities

Yesterday, during one of our first training sessions we watched “We Were Kids,” a film inspired by two Residential school survivors. It was very emotional for me and really hit close to home. Thinking of the horrors Aboriginal peoples’ had faced due to the corruption and dehumanizing ways of the Residential school, it made me … Continue reading “We Were Kids” Residential school and Khmer Rouge

Me: ~Greets regular customer. Gives hug.~ Customer: You know, you are the only one who ever greets me like this. No one ever talks to me. Me: It’s my pleasure! ~We talk about my Engage North experience and how I’ll be living on reserve for four months. Customer: You know, us Natives are friendly. It’s … Continue reading Stigma