Learning about Indigenous Health Research in Norway House

By Sarah Wood, 1st year MDP student

Sarah and summer solstice skies

My field placement began with an 8 hour car ride so far outside the city I didn’t even have CBC Radio to keep me company for much of the drive. Instead I kept myself entertained with intermittent black bear and bald eagle sightings. 

My placement is with Norway House Cree Nation and a research team from the University of Winnipeg who are jointly working on a project surrounding birthing and maternity services in this northern First Nations community. Currently, pregnant women living in Norway House travel to cities like Winnipeg to have their babies, but there is growing interest in understanding the challenges this poses to women and their families and exploring the option of births in Norway House.

  

Norway House Indian Hospital where every once and a while babies are delivered

I have been fortunate enough during my time here to speak briefly with hundreds of women and men at numerous events in the community. It has been interesting to navigate the practicalities of Indigenous research that we explored during our course work this past year. 

Specifically, I have met with a Community Advisory Committee who offered crucial feedback on our survey design. I have learned how O.C.A.P (Ownership, Control, Access, Possession) principles for research in First Nations communities are applied to this specific research project such as how the information collected for this research, that belongs to Norway House, will be stored.  I even had to make a radio advertisement to alert the community of my presence here. (Those of you who know me know that is this my nightmare). I am hopeful that this work will prove useful for the community in their efforts to steer their healthcare programs in whichever direction they decide is best.  

Aside from meeting survey quotas, I’ve been keeping myself busy by fighting with the internet connection, swimming, visiting waterfalls, and enjoying sunsets that last well past eleven in the evening.

  

The midway set up for the weekend at the waterfront, bursting with eager survey participants

Meet The Women Who Are Toiling Hard To Secure The Future Of Their Children And Community

By Nana Araba Asaam, 1st year MDP student

“No matter how you measure it, women and children bear the brunt of poverty. But it’s also clear that women are our greatest hope for ending it. I have long believed that if you change the life of a girl or woman, you don’t just change that individual, you change her family and then her community.” Dr. Helene Gayle, President/CEO of Care USA.

Giving out cash to women farmers at Zoosali for purchasing certified seeds

I have come back to my roots but this time to a different region and with a different purpose: to help create a world in which women are empowered to secure the future of their children and community. My first field placement is with the Regional Advisory Information and Network Systems (RAINS) in the Northern Region of Ghana. I have the opportunity to be working on the Integrated Community Empowerment (INCOME) program, funded by Canadian Feed the Children (CFTC), whose intended outcome is that children in vibrant, sustainable communities in northern Ghana have foundations to build a prosperous future. 

Since it is generally believed that women are the primary caregivers of children, the program to a large extent targets women in the rural communities to effectively address issues confronting children. The program directly supports over 1,000 school children by providing tuition fees, uniforms, learning materials and interventions to improve the learning environment. In recognition of their primary caregiver role, the program also supports women’s livelihood activities, such as crop and animal farming, and beekeeping. It also provides training for Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) among the women to boost their household income status and financial decision making capacity. 

VSLA group at Sang after distribution of share saving and profit

 The above-mentioned activities are intended to increase food security and the economic status of the women as well as enhance their participation in decision making processes, thereby putting them in a better standing to protect their children. This also ensures that women are better able to generate and use their earnings to feed their families, send their children to school and keep them there.

I have been incredibly impressed by the hard work done by most women in the Northern Region despite the many challenges they face. Besides issues of cultural and male dominance and gender inequality, the women labor under numerous daily tasks such as walking long distances to farm, collect firewood, cook, clean, get water, care for children and more. Whereas, the men only weed farm lands seasonally, and most of the days sit under trees to play board games with friends. It has become quite obvious to me that there is a long way to go toward achieving equal task distribution and gender equality in the rural communities of the Northern Region. It is however comforting to realize that the INCOME program among other intervention programs undertaken by RAINS are steps in the right direction. My hope is that with time and the ongoing economic empowerment of women, a way will be found for more equal distribution of labour at household and community levels.

Beneficiary of INCOME program proudly showing off her farm land

I have spent a lot of time in the Zoosali, Bidima, Kpachilo and Sang rural communities and walked many miles to visit farm lands and beehives of the women farmers. I must admit that I am highly impressed and inspired by their strength, selflessness, continuous persistence, hard work and resilience to lay a better foundation for the future of their children and communities. 

I am happy and grateful to be contributing to this program, learning from the RAINS team and my women friends whom I have formed beautiful relationships with. I pray and hope for the day when the children will thrive and be free from poverty and my friends will be totally empowered.

Complexity of Real World

By Gabriela Jimenez, 1st year MDP student

For twelve weeks I have been researching and learning about the methodologies used to prepare Environmental Assessments for engineering projects, specifically the social and cultural aspects. Corporations can follow standardized methodologies; however, they also can go beyond the minimum requirements and develop projects that are more sustainable. 

To achieve sustainability, the challenge is to pursue collaborative processes, which can be very complex. In order to get consensus or agreements on any topic, all participants need to understand each other’s positions, to develop empathy, and to be clear on the principals and goals that brought them to the table. So, negotiation is the key word for successful collaborative processes. 

We know from our studies that the environment-human system is complex, so any plan designed to remediate an effect, will influence some other variable. In real life, it is even more complex than studied, because the positions taken during human interactions sometimes are unpredictable. Even though I was not involved in any type of negotiation during this internship, I studied and perceived the complexity and variety of obstacles that might influence agreements. This includes political decisions, legal frameworks, health concerns, cultural values, etc. This experience confirmed for me that we can get tools in the classroom; however, we acquire the learning when we have to face, participate and/or lead the negotiation process.

Gabriela in front of Kettle Dam, Nelson River, Manitoba

I would love to work on project development building the bridge between the social and the engineering aspects. Therefore, this placement was very relevant, since it nourished my professional background by exposing me to the complexity of the reality of sustainable development. 

Energy will always be needed and thus engineering projects will keep happening. The approach taken should be socially and environmentally inclusive with the goal of obtaining the most benefit for all parties’ involved, as well as reducing the footprint to the minimum possible. I recognize that each situation will be different because of the type of the project, nature of the participants, negotiation process, circumstances and power/economic relations; but understanding the principles to achieve effective agreements will absolutely help ensure development is sustainable.