May-be I should update before June…

At some point, my creative titling spree will end. Today is not that day.

Just a quick and not-very-related-to-work update to say that I’ve been here for over a week and almost have not blogged since! Over the past week, I’ve been following up with water issues, attempting to acquire some information on the water table/hydrogeology of the area (hello, science part of my brain. I’m sorry I have forgotten about you for the past seven years), and met with more community members, kids, and local health professionals. Slowly but surely I’m starting to remember names, occupations, and hobbies, and have also started compiling a list of curiosities: what does jackfish taste like? Where can I find said jackfish? Does Boston Pizza actually have good pizza, or does everyone just go there all of the time? Why is the bannock always gone when I go into the kitchen? Who should I befriend in order to receive rapid bannock-in-kitchen notification? Is there a technology for that?  

Hopefully I will have some answers for you over the next couple of weeks! I’m looking forward to this weekend, as Saturday is devoted to a Aboriginal Youth and Communities Empowerment Strategy (AYCES) event. For the event, the AFLs, Health Centre staff, kids, and community members are reclaiming Chateh’s baseball diamond – cutting the grass, arranging bases, etc. – and then having a BBQ and baseball game when all of the work is done! I’m super pumped because a) baseball, b) food, and most importantly, c) establishing another community/recreational space through a sweet and fun event. I’m excited to get dirty and hopefully contribute some RBIs. I have an Import Auto Supply jersey with me, and may even sport it for the occasion. I think the AFLs and I may go into town on Sunday which means groceries and answering one of my questions re: Boston Pizza. I’m also excited for Kenzie (whose blog I will link soon once she gets here and starts blogging) and Janelle to be part of Dene Tha’ First Nation early next week.

Aside from these curiosities and excitements, there is not much else to report. It looks like I’m moving in with the AFLs for the summer which is equally as exciting as it is worrying. Before you get apprehensive, I’m only worried because they keep me up past my bedtime more often than not, and might also make me laugh a little too much! I’ll post some photos of our digs (be patient, Em…) once my room gets sorted out a bit. Currently I’m sleeping on a small mattress on the floor, which would be fine except for the fact that I woke up a couple of nights ago with a spider crawling on my face! I’m hoping some sort of bed frame will help to mitigate this issue. More to follow.

Here are some photos from the past couple of days, and I promise to post some of the baseball game, Gym night, and house soon:

My office. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get an office again in any of my future careers so I’ve been enjoying it!

Wild horses right outside of my home, complete with birds perched on top like a Disney movie! You can see the future baseball diamond in the back. Just to the right of the photo is where the Health Centre is (hence the giant fence).

Haven’t been starving, that’s for sure! BLT and loaded baked potatoes 🙂 

Photo taken from the bridge! The water is Sousa Creek, which is the source water for the WTP. 

All for now! Have a great end of week and weekend 🙂

 

Happy Friday! or Dryday, to make a relevant-to-my-post pun…

             Today, I took a tour of the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) here in Chateh. You can watch a little somethin’ about it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBOqPHNae24 or read a little more about it at http://news.gc.ca/web/article-en.do?nid=602889 or http://www.canadianconsultingengineer.com/awards/pdfs/G-2_ChatehWaterTreatmentPlant.pdf, which is the full project report. Water is one of the issues I have been looking at in relation to health, so I was happy to be able to tour the facility almost as soon as I got here.

           Safe drinking water is an issue in many Northern communities in Canada. Right now, about 1 in 5 of the reserves in Canada are currently under a Boil Water Advisory (approximately 90 communities). The severity of these BWAs range – some are because of equipment issues while others are due to a much larger problem related to source water. Some of the documents provided above acknowledge that the source water available in Chateh prior to 2011 (when the new WTP was completed) was unusable because of the limited technology that Chateh had at the time. As a result, the WTP uses a highly innovative system that is the first of its kind in a First Nations community in Canada. After looking at the plant, I realize how much I take for granted water (especially water quality) in my life. It is a very complicated process that relies on everything being perfectly aligned and measured. Chateh’s plant was designed with ease of use, energy conservation, and durability in mind. While most of it is automated, working at the WTP in Chateh is still not a job I would want; there are many things to check and test every day and the workers are highly accountable to the community. The job is made harder by the fact that I think some of the community still feels uneasy about drinking the water because of years of poor quality.

           While at the WTP, I was fortunate to acquire one of my new favourite maps: a map that shows Chateh’s water distribution system. When the WTP was built, they accounted for new demand in the process since only about a quarter of the homes in Chateh are on the pumped/piped water system. The remaining homes have water from the WTP delivered by truck into tanks. While this is a somewhat effective system, some of these homes have issues with their water tanks – cracks, proximity to sewage, corroded pipes, etc. – which means that when their water is tested at point of use it tests back to the days before the new WTP. Chateh is only one of three Dene Tha’ communities, and government data on the other communities’ water infrastructure suggests an imperfect scenario: Bushe is currently under a BWA, while Meander’s infrastructure is labeled anywhere from medium to high risk. Despite the fact that Chateh has a beautiful and functional WTP, many people in Dene Tha’ are still without access to safe and clean running water. For my family that is feeling uneasy, my home is on the piped water line. Nevertheless, I’m still puzzled by the fact that an additional 10% in funding wasn’t allocated in order to give the whole community piped water.

            Aside from what I’ve been learning at work, I spent a few hours last night playing volleyball with some of the youth. Even though I haven’t played since high school, I think some of the kids would say that I’ve still got it 😉 One of my favourite things about volleyball is how easy it is to teach the mechanics. When bumping the ball, kids usually feel like the ball should hit their wrists or that they have to propel their arms upwards upon contact, which either makes the ball hurt your wrists or hit the ceiling. With a couple of quick instructions, we were playing much better volleyball by the end of the night, and I’m looking forward to teaching them some more of the game’s intricacies. I don’t have any photos for today but I will take some over the weekend and post them on Monday or Tuesday. Happy Friday and chat soon! 🙂

           

Greetings from Chateh! … and an apology.

After a 12 to 14 hour road trip from Edmonton, I arrived in Chateh, Assumption, or Hay Lake yesterday evening. As my Dad would say, the trip was “uneventful” – no incidents to report – however we did see several bears (including one with cubs!), Chateh has wild horses (what?!), and there were some really beautiful photos taken. I don’t think I will take many photos today; it seems as though I will see Alberta cloudy and rainy for the second time since arriving here two weeks ago. Overall, I really like the sunshine and how big the sky is in Alberta.

On my agenda for this week are a few basic things: conversations with the Health Director and IC-Impacts, bonding with my current housemates (from the Alberta Future Leaders program), and hopefully attending some of the Open Gyms that the AFL put on for the community every night. By hopefully I mean “I will attend, because sports and gym time is my jam.” I’m really thankful that the Alberta Future Leaders have let me into their home while mine is undergoing some renovations. Not only have they helped me get to know the community and some of its incredibly kind members, but also it is nice having an evening event to go to and meet people, especially in an environment that I am so comfortable with from my Frontier College days.

Now, onto an apology: I forgot my handy dandy cord that connects my camera into my computer. Once I figure out the post office, I’m hoping that I can ship it up, find one in High Level, or purchase a card reader. Nevertheless, I have yet to turn on my camera (cellphone = handy picture taker) so photos will still be had. Here are a couple of photos of my adventures so far:

Fort Vermillion en route. This gas bar/convenience store was for sale! Beautiful view, too.

Viewing Dene territory. The decline is about 10km. This hill was used as an indicator for how to get to Chateh 🙂 You can also catch a glimpse of how many bugs our windshield killed!

Kilometers of tall, white birch trees most of the way there. Really beautiful and different.

Halfway, perhaps? It was neat watching the vegetation change as we went further north.

Momma and her cubs.

Throwback to training: hiking in the Kootenay Plains

Anyways, more to follow when there is more to report :). I hope everyone at home is well, happy, and enjoying some warmer weather!