Visioning, Coordinating, and Implementing- Experiences Co-ordinating Virtual Language Revitalization

Taanshi,

The MDP program has provided me exponential growth both personally and professionally. It was so exciting to use my newly developed skills learned during the didactic portion of MDP and be able to implement it while working with my own Nation and community on such a critical initiative like language revitalization.

Working with the Louis Riel Institute (LRI) for my second placement was a very cyclical progression as the summer before I started the MDP program I worked as a Research Assistant with LRI. It was wonderful being able to both open and close my MDP experience working with the LRI an organization that I hold close to my heart.

At first, fulfilling the responsibilities of the project coordinator was daunting on such a critical initiative and I was unsure of my skill set, but once I was immersed in the work, I realized just how complementary my course work and teachings from MDP were in my placement.

For me one of the pieces that have been the challenging has been trying to coordinate during the COVID-19 pandemic but also been the rewarding, to ensure that the community workshops were accommodating to our language champions. I really value the virtual space the working circle was able to create for the community members during our workshops as it facilitated a space for the attendees to learn from, gather to listen and share their experiences pertaining to language.

Furthermore, this placement has provided me the opportunity to strengthen my relationships within community and learn more about the process of language revitalization and power of meaningful collaboration.

I want to also express extreme gratitude to the LRI for trusting and empowering me to take on this important work. As they provided a nurturing environment to learn, listen, and grow and provided me a beautiful segway into life post-MDP. 

Kawapamitiinawaw, 

Ali