Introductions and Explanations

 

I am a proud member of the Heiltsuk and Nuu-Cha-Nulth Nations, from the west coast of British Columbia. I currently live in my home village of Bella Bella, on the centeral coast of BC. I have been wokring with the Hailika'as Heiltsuk Health Center for the past three years, as the Child & Youth Program Coordinator. Recently, I have been offered an aborignal youth internship with CAP AIDS. CAP AIDS stands for Canada African Parternship on AIDS. Their main goal is to help people in Africa to resist, overcoe, and survive HIV/AIDS. I will be traveling to Uganda and possibly Ethiopia to learn and contribute what I can to the organization.

 

A little bit about me, I was blessed to be able to travel extensively before my 20th birthday. It all started with a 4 month adventure in Australia when I was 16. While Australia was painfully similar to Canada in so many ways, it was really the begining of all this. Traveling solo across the largest ocean on the planet sparked a wanderluast in me. I would soon learn that it was not to be easily satisfied.

 

Australia was followed closely by a month in Thailand, after the 2006 tsunami. I spent my time rebuilding a house with Thai vocational students and members of the Royal Thai Army. For the first time I was in a country where English wasn't a national language and white people weren't the majority. The relationships I formed with the family who's home I was helping to rebuild, the vocational students and officers of the Royal Thai Army would forever impact the way I viewed the world. Dispite not being able to speak the language, I managed to connect with people in a real way. These were people who had lost everything they had ever worked for; their entire lives and sometimes their entire families. Disaster zone doesn't even begin to cover it. But there was such pure joy and happiness in the face of all this. Their resiliency inspired me in a way I still don't fully understand. My favorite memory is of sitting around a fire sharing fish grilled on grate with the family and vocational students. This experience was made so preciois by their happiness and joy despite everything that they had faced. Although that night marked the end of my journey in Thailand it was only the beginning of them rebuilding their lives. I had helped to rebuild their home but their was so much more to do.

The day I stepped off the plane from Thailand my Aunty Vina and Mom handed me a posting about an opportunity to travel to various countries and film a documentary, for aboriginal high school students. I read through the list of countries and only one stood out, Peru. I didn't know it yet but Peru would leave a permenant imprint on my soul; a special Peru shaped curve that will remain with me forever. To summarize: Homestay in the Andes, 10 day trekk through Cordilla Huathuash, Macchu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, The Amazon, the slums of Lima, surfing in South Pacific, volunteering in an orphanage in Ninoa, altitude sickness, Lake Titikaka, and so much more. I was experiencing all this while filming mini-documentary for APTN - amazing. This journey taught me about what real poverty looks like. It inspired me to become a more active global citizen. Peru affected me so much that when I came back I went through sever reverse culture shock. The transition back to western "developed" society was one of the hardest ones I've ever made.

After I finished my high school education, I spent 4 months in Dominica. Dominica made me fall in love with the tropics. Working with the Kalinago people who were trying so hard to preserve the few precious remaining morsels of their culture, made me appreciate my cultural richness so much more. While the British colonizers have much to answer for in Canada the Kalinago had such a brutal colonial experience that nearly all of their cultural strongholds were stolen from them. I couldn't help be be thankful for how rich my own culture still is. This experience was also different because for the first time I was traveling with other indigenous people and interacting with only indigenous communities. I believe this rich experience is what lead me back to my community.

All of these experiences inspired me to presue a degree in international relations at UBC. This didn't work out as planned and I've been working for various Aboriginal communities and organizations ever since, with a one year stay in provincial government. It is only with my upcoming return to post secondary education that I wanted to explore this internal draw to the international field once again. So it was that magentic force that compelled me to apply for the Projects & Communication Internship with CAP AIDS in Uganada. This blog will follow this new journey.