Category:

Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation

5/8/2012

Slave Lake has a Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation that is such fun. They have an annual event the first weekend in June. Every year they host a fun Trail Run/Walk. I have the grand babies that weekend so I am hoping to take them to this event. I hope to see you there!

Moose Factory, Ontario

9/19/2011

I had the honour of working with caregivers in the community of Moose Factory, Ontario. I added a map icon here to show where Moose Factory is as I didn't really know...thought it might help to visual where I was!They have had a number of losses in their community. They requested some training for their caregivers and the community.
I had a great time with the caregivers and the community members.
I've added a slideshow of my week there. The community had a great "Walk for Life" for World Suicide Prevention Day. It was a great turnout with a nice meal....wonderful activity!

ASIST in Hobbema

7/27/2011

I went to Hobbema earlier this week to deliver an ASIST, in Samson Cree Nation, with my co-trainer Mike. I have been there before and it has always been a great experience. The people there are very friendly and eager to help the community on social issues such as suicide.
While we were there, an intern from the University of Alberta, Alison, has started a blog about the work being done by the Community Justice Program. The ASIST is one of their initiatives in the community.
Here's a link to the blog with some very nice pictures (I even like mine!)

http://ruralcapacityhobbema.blogspot.com/2011/07/asist-training-applied-suicide.html#comments

Also here's a picture of my co-trainer Mike, myself and Luci from the Community Justice Pogram!

Devastation

5/16/2011

Yesterday and today has been a roller coaster of emotions......and it continues. Our northern area of Alberta has been devastated by the impact of wildfires. The Town of Slave Lake has been evacuated, many homes and businesses have been lost to the wildfires....the losses are enormous and there will be many years of recovery.
There is also something to rejoice in this terrible tragedy, no lives have been lost. People have all survived even with all of these deadly wildfires from yesterday and I am so happy about that.
There are two pictures below that I took at my acreage. This shows the amount of smoke that was near my place yesterday afternoon. The wind shifted and moved the wildfire in another direction and our community was safe...for now.
The last picture was taken by NASA Satellite and shows the Slave Lake wildfire as well as other wildfires in the north. Many small communities have been evacuated to the Towns of High Prairie and Peace River, some people have continued on to the Cities of Grande Prairie and Edmonton. My thoughts and prayers are with all the areas that may be impacted. I will continue to pray....I hope you do too!

Slave Lake Fire and Many Others in Alberta, Canada:

There are a number of large fires occurring throughout much of central and northern Alberta, Canada today and NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of them. The town of Slave Lake has already suffered major losses. The Slave Lake fire can be seen in the middle of this satellite image from NASA's Aqua satellite. The two red areas just south of the lake are the locations of the fires and the smoke appears to be blowing in a northwesterly direction.

A good source for information is
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alberta-Wildfire-Info/357885625988

International Women's Day

3/9/2011

March 08 was International Women's Day. I was extremely honoured to be asked to speak to a group of women in the community of Wabasca, Alberta. The community agencies hosted a one day women's day conference.
The evening event was a excellent supper with myself speaking about self-esteem, some local singers, and games which brought a lot of laughter to our evening.
It was a most excellent experience and I felt the warmth and caring of the community. If you get an opportunity to participate in a Women's Conference, I hope you take the opportunity because sometimes we forget how special we are.

Click on a picture and there are some notes that I wrote describing some of the activities held that evening..

Tattered Teddies: Suicide in Children

10/1/2010

I'm just back from a Training for Trainers that was held in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The training was delivered by myself and a fabulous trainer named Andrea. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and working together. The Centre for Suicide Prevention from Calgary, Alberta was the organizer and, of course, holds the copyright for the "Tattered Teddies, A workshop about Suicide in Children" material. They did a superb job of organizing and Jennifer was there to make sure there were no major concerns that came up. I really needed her support!
Winnipeg, Manitoba was very nice, Andrea gave up a quick driving tour and I managed to capture a bit of the essence of the city. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Drumheller

7/26/2010

My daughter Marisa and my two grandchildren Kaiden and Kiona went to Drumheller after our trip to Calgary.
My grandson has an keen interest in dinosaurs and I wanted to show him what they looked like and how they used to live in Alberta.

Banff

3/1/2010

Happy March 1st....spring is on the way!!
Last week I went to a conference hosted by LIVN, Life is Valued Network, in Banff. Here's some pics of that experience...

This picture was taken on my drive to Banff, the sun was setting over the mountains and the view was breathtaking!

I had an opportunity to walk through Banff the evening of the first day of the conference. The sun was shining, there was snow in the community but not very much and it was warm. Such a glorious day for a walk, here's what I saw...

In Banff there are a lot of international visitors. While I was there I heard many different languages. The people are very friendly. I received smiles, nods of hello and some people stopped to briefly chat. One woman stopped us to say that the local art shop was a beautiful place to see. We went in to check it out and it was terrific. I couldn't afford any of the art pieces but there was great to look at. Expression through art is a powerful tool.

As we were walking, we found a store called "Rocks and Gems Canada". They had a wonderful selection of stones from the area. Stones are one of my favorite things to use and wear, I like worry stones, stone rings, I use rocks in the talking circles I lead and I use them to help me when I feel anxious, particularly when I have to give a speech that I am feeling anxiety about. They help to ground me and with a prayer, I feel connected.

We had a fabulous supper, chicken and rice, as well as entertainment with Don Burnstick. If you haven't had the opportunity to hear Don speak, please take advantage if you find out he is performing in your area.
Don speaks about his life, his issues and how he made his way through difficult times. He uses aboriginal cultural tools to speak about lessons learned.
This one part of his presentation speaks to the seven steps of ages we go through starting at birth, and in particular being a youth. He talks about youth being affected by SAD (Sex, alcohol and drugs) Powerful influences that affect how we see ourselves and others.
One of the gifts of the presentation were his thoughts about what we need to work through on our journey towards healing. He talked about working on ourselves through PRAYER, SHARING, CRYING and LAUGHTER.

This is one of the presentations I sat in on. One of my concerns has always been about how we address community based suicide prevention strategies, particularly in Aboriginal communities. I was glad to see that some work was being done in this area. This particular session was delivered by Dave Mascar, who has worked in Suicide Prevention for many years. I look forward to seeing more of his work in this area.

These last two pictures are from my drive back to Edmonton. I decide to go the long way north to Jasper but turning towards Rocky Mountain House. On the road were these Big Horn Sheep.
They stopped to look at me and slowly moved on their way. They looked so majestic. Very nice and always a pleasure to see our four legged brothers and sisters in my travels.

Hiy Hiy, thank you Creator for the gift of this meeting!

Calgary

12/23/2009

This month I've been working in Calgary and its been alot of fun. I am helping on a project that will bring Aboriginal Youth Suicide to a national level.
Now people who know me, realize that I am not a city person, so the project was good enough to entice me out of the "north".
I have been honored to be a part of this project even though I am working in downtown Calgary, quite a difference from my little acreage!

The treasure that I have found is working with my colleagues on this wonderful project. They are enthusiastic, thoughtful and very accepting. I am truly grateful for this and I am having a great adventure!

Grande Prairie, Alberta

11/14/2009

I went to Grande Prairie, Alberta last weekend to mentor a new trainer. I was sitting outside the Grande Prairie Regional College early in the morning waiting and as the sunrise brought the light onto the college I saw this beautiful sight! I have to share these pics with you. I hope you enjoy them! (Double Click on the small picture and it will open to full size, follow the arrow to the next picture)