Greetings from Rocky Lane!
Over the last week or so we have continued to get more involved in the community and community events.
Firstly I have been involved in the regular weekly softball game. There weren’t enough people for two full teams so we played a version that resembled non-stop cricket (a reference that will help my New Zealand readers and confuse my Canadian ones). The game alternates between the two communities, last week we played at Childs Lake in a beautiful spot near the river. This week we are playing at the school here in Rocky Lane.
The other big event that we went to last week was lunch and bingo with the elders. While not all of the community elders were there it was nice to meet and talk with about 10 of the elders in the community. Apparently I look like a trustworthy sort of person because I also got asked to call the bingo.
Calling the Bingo
We have also been starting to research some of the business opportunities the community would like us to look at. Nisha has been very patient in teaching me business planning techniques. For Nisha this sort of planning is very obvious and mundane but I appreciate the clarity that having a good business framework gives us in our research and discussions we have with people in the community.
For myself as much as for the community I have been doing some research into the history of Treaty 8 and the treaty claims process in this part of Canada. I will likely write a bit more about this in the future once I have had a chance to develop my thoughts a little further and talk to some of the community members up here.
I have been enjoying the long evenings and doing some weeding in the community gardens behind the community centre. There are some lovely raised beds and I am hoping to get some plants growing over the summer and give some food to the elders later in the summer. The downside of gardening up here in the evenings (or doing pretty much anything outside) is that you get swarmed by mosquitos. I have tried a few repellents but am still working on finding one that is really effective. Maybe next year Engage North can get an insect repellent company as a sponsor.
Nisha and I have also had a chance to catch up with Kenzie and Rachel who are doing summer projects in Dene Tha First Nation. The four of us are hoping to go out to the Rodeo on Saturday. If you are interested in what the other fellows are getting up to the link to all our blogs is here: http://engagenorth.ualberta.ca/en/FellowshipProgram/FellowsBlogs.aspx
A Kiwi in Beaver 