My Local Field Placement Experience

By Patricia Eyamba, 1st year MDP student

Patricia pointing to York Factory Cree Nation

Wow! The field placement went too fast, seems like yesterday when I started.  Anyways, it was a very rewarding experience for me; 220 hours of a life transforming encounter. Yes! A life transforming encounter because I did not only improve on my academic skills or develop professional abilities but I became more human.

I have learned during this time that as a development practitioner, it is important to balance your soft skills and your technical skills.  Technical skills help you get your job done which is only an aspect of the process but soft skills sustain your connectedness with people.  It is good to amplify your human skills because it helps increase successful co-existence and motivates your team.

Being human makes you focus on how things went well, acknowledge setbacks and be encouraging when giving feedback. With this skill, you are able to handle frustrating tasks with kind words. How nice!

Additionally, I feel good for having the opportunity to attend two meetings with some leaders of York Factory First Nation. This forum provided me the insight into how community meeting processes are managed in an Indigenous community. Another exciting task was when I was given responsibility to develop a framework for a draft community engagement plan to promote embodied understanding of the process of engaging Indigenous communities. In putting this together, I gained insight into understanding community protocols and ethics, I gained knowledge of what it means to practice respectful communication; understand what is relevant and important from an Indigenous point of view.

Finally, I am grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Trish Fitzpatrick for her patience and teaching me key research skills. With her support, I have been able to put together a briefing note, a draft annotated review and a proposed community engagement plan. I am more aware of the impact of Hydro project on the Indigenous community in Manitoba. Overall, it was a good journey of self-discovery and learning that will guide me throughout my academic and career life.