TL;DR
Featuring Creation Grantees responses from Lyle Garbiel, Ryder Chartrand and Ainslie Traverse from IndigeBrother, Helping Others
Details
To highlight the work Creation Grantees are doing in their communities, the Creation Community Grants Team sends out Q&A forms so they can share their experiences creating and carrying out their projects. Today we are featuring responses from Lyle, Ryder and Ainslie from IndigeBrother, Helping Others.
Community: Lake St. Martin, Skownan, and Mallard, Manitoba
Grant Type: Experiential Learning Funding (August 2023)
Q : Tell us about your group and project!
A : We are three youth coming together to help our youth have more opportunities and awareness for themselves to grow and thrive here and out of our community. Learning different teachings and skills can really help gain balance in shaping who we are as Indigenous Youth in Canada, with our overall knowledge and experiences of our wellbeing and wellness with the land and our inner self. We can connect to Mother Earth and revitalize our language within our home community by learning these lessons and skills from our traditional teachings. Ribbon skirt/shirt making and beading are 2 of the many talents we as Anishinaabe/First Nations have as our gifts. Our people love to do these and share amongst each other to keep the tradition alive and going. This is what makes our community happy and healthy. Chi–Meegweetch (Thank you).
“As we help to explore these types of projects and work within our community, we know it will gain attention and support, inspiring other youth to come out of their comfort zones and start to explore and build their bundles (toolkit) of learning, to access new opportunities and gain new skills to grow their abilities.”
Q: As the youth running the project, what impact do you hope it will have?
A : As we explore these types of projects and work within our community, we know it will gain attention and support, inspiring other youth to come out of their comfort zones. They will start exploring, build their bundles (toolkit) of learning, access new opportunities, gain new skills and grow their abilities. We all have gifts, and we need to support one another to bring them out. Helping each other to do so benefits us all greatly. We appreciate the opportunity to do this for the youth of our community, to show them that anyone can do anything. Regardless of who they are and what they want to achieve in life, they can do it. Helping others shape their future is what makes us proud as First Nations Youth. We are the future, and we are the change!
Q : What is something you have learned?
A : Sometimes a successful project doesn’t happen right away- planning and execution are the key factors in making it successful. We have decided to take it slowly and step by step-the teaching of “patience” comes to mind as we are youth learning and creating ways for the next generation. We want to keep our traditions alive and well. Meegweetch for helping us to grow, learn more about ourselves, how things actually work and make changes to the future. IndigeBrother, Helping Others is the beginning of our journey, and we will continue to help and make our community a thriving place, so that all youth will want to follow and help do the same.
Q: What is one piece of advice you would share with other youth who want to run a project?
A : Be sure of what project you want to consider focusing on, as that’s a big part of gaining the momentum in making your project successful and more productive. By focusing on the key aspects of your project, you will have a better chance at achieving your goals. Patience is key and learning from mistakes can help you improve your work.
“Helping others shape their future is what makes us proud as First Nations Youth. We are the future, and we are the change!”
