Indigenous community engagement – My experience in the Kalinago Territory, Dominica

By Racheal Kalaba, 1st year MDP student

Racheal doing community outreach

My international placement was in the Kalinago Territory with the Kalinago people of Waitukubuli in the Commonwealth of Dominica. The Kalinago are the only surviving pre-Columbus Indigenous people that hold reserve land in the Caribbean. The uniqueness of the territory is that the Kalinago people fully own the land as part of the Dominica constitution. In my quest to understand and work with the Kalinago, I reflected on the principles of engaging communities based on my objectives of supporting communities in the area of disaster management and planning with an Indigenous perspective.

Red Cross team meeting with Kalinago

youth as part of the 1st meeting to set up

the 1st Red Cross Branch in Kalinago Territory

My placement aimed to work with Indigenous people and support existing systems and structures dealing with disasters, especially after The Commonwealth of Dominica was hit with Hurricane Maria in late 2017.  I reflected on ways of engaging with communities positively, taking into account that I was just there for a few months. In my engagement, I aligned myself with policies based on the situations I encountered with different stakeholders in the community. Firstly, I took the time to define what the word community meant to me and my placement. During that time, I engaged in Indigenous ways of doing and being. I also acknowledged that, for a community to function well, I needed to be aware of Indigenous knowledge, self-determination, governance, and community participation. I knew that I was there to support and build on what the community was already doing, and hence, my role was to facilitate the self-determination, participation, and engagement of community members.

Why then community engagement: Throughout my time in Kalinago territory, I learned that Indigenous communities are expecting you to be part of them, engage with them, and share ideas and work with them. My role as an MDP student during the placement was to be part of the community and position myself and my role. Furthermore, to share with the community my role, which was shared learning, I was there to learn and to support and vise versa. 

Racheal with a community member known for her

amazing chicken and her storytelling ability

My takeaway during the placement is that communities have vast knowledge, and due to disasters, they face a lot of stress after disasters, which makes it difficult for them to rebuild back their communities. Key learning during my experience in Kalinago is to be aware of Indigenous principles. Some Indigenous principles are respect for protocol, culture, language, reciprocity, relationships, and wellbeing are vital. I noticed my involvement with the Kalinago peoples is that culture is more about living and or staying in the territory, but it is also families, workplaces, social, religious, and political associations. I was privileged through the support of Mr. Irvince Auguste and his family for having allowed me to experience Indigenous community life and work and be able to share their stories and daily life. I also want to thank the Chief of Council, the Councilors and community members of the Kalinago Territory in Dominica.

Serving Where the Need is Greater

By Nana Araba Asaam, 2nd year MDP student

The end of the seemingly long road is finally here! I cannot believe how fast these months have gone by. When I started the MDP program, I always wondered when it would end or if I would even be able to complete this journey successfully. Well, almost two years later, I find myself writing about my final field placement experience which crowns this most wonderful journey. To my cohort, I will miss you guys! All the best in your future endeavors!

Peguis Flood Response - On site with colleagues

I have had a great time this past 12 weeks with the Manitoba Canadian Red Cross (MB CRC). Before signing on to work as a practicum student, I had established a relationship with Red Cross as a volunteer so I had the confidence that I would gain something valuable at the end of the placement and I was quite right. The Canadian Red Cross is one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world whose mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and around the world. What attracted me to this organization is the diverse opportunities given to people to voluntarily demonstrate their caring for others in need. Since this is what I have always been interested in and what the MDP is all about, I saw working with MB CRC as an opportunity to demonstrate how important it is to me to care for others in need.

Within the MB CRC I worked with the Disaster Management (DM) Program. This is the program that prepares for and manages the organization’s response to disasters throughout all of Canada. A cornerstone activity during response is the delivery of services to clients, to provide relief immediately following a disaster, and to support recovery efforts for extended periods of time. During the first few weeks with DM, I responded to the Manitoba flooding which affected numerous communities including Peguis, Long Plain, Sioux Valley, and Canupawakpa First Nations.

Emergency Response Operation Centre

I was further tasked to work on the First Nation communities demographic and disaster preparedness survey which required me to precisely apply my research skills gained from the MDP program. This survey is intended to help DM know more about all 63 First Nation communities in Manitoba, how resilient and prepared they are to handle disasters such as floods, fires and tornados that may threaten their safety and lives when they occur. Working on this project, I learned a lot more about First Nation communities through face to face and over the phone conversations with community leaders and members.  

I also worked on the Ready When the Time Comes (RWTC) project which involved searching for organizations who would be willing to lend their workers as volunteers to help provide emergency relief when a large-scale disaster occurs. RWTC trains employees and members of MB CRC partnering corporations and organizations to become disaster response reservists. This means in the event of a large-scale disaster these individuals are called upon to provide the Red Cross team with response assistance. The purpose of this program is to develop an emergency preparedness and response culture by increasing the volunteer capacity of the Red Cross. This was a very important project that demanded that I use diligent decision making skills to determine which organization was to be partnered with. 

To broaden the scope of my experience with MB CRC, I also accepted to work with the Respect Education program. This program works to create safe environments free of violence – abuse, bullying, exploitation – through prevention education and response. The focus of the program is on children and youth. To keep young people safe, Respect Education informs adults, youth and children, and works with individuals of all genders, backgrounds and status. 

CRC Mission Statement

Observing and working with staff and volunteers who give off their time, skill and very best to help the most vulnerable, I now have a deeper understanding of what it means to be humanitarian. I am glad to be sharing in CRC’s mission “to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and around the world”. 

The rest of the summer I responded to the Manitoba fires which threatened the safety of Poplar River First Nation as well as other neighboring communities. I encourage all my friends, cohort, and anybody who is reading this to volunteer for CRC to contribute to the success of its mission. I can guarantee that doing this would bring inner satisfaction, peace and joy.