Volunteer Manitoba Does Good Work!

Volunteer Manitoba makes giving back to your community a synch! Rural Manitobans now have the same access to Volunteer Manitoba’s online resource library as Winnipeggers. Dennis Dyck, executive director, said with excitement, that anyone anywhere in the province can now reserve books online and the library will ship them directly. Dyck is very pleased to offer this service to rural Manitobans. The collection can be searched at http://vomb.catalogue.manitobaspruce.ca. Volunteer Manitoba’s mission is to support groups and individuals in the voluntary sector to develop and enhance their capacity to anticipate, understand, celebrate, and meet community needs in Manitoba. You can see this in action by visiting their convenient location at suite 410 - 5 Donald Street south or online at www.volunteermb.ca. You can even give them a call to check out what’s happening at 204.477.5180 or toll free: 888.922.4545. “Volunteer Manitoba is the go to organization when people need information,” Dyck said. “We offer core training and custom training workshops, house a library resource centre, training department and a volunteer referral area,” he said. In his position for close to eight years and Dyck says he loves what he does every day. “I love my job. I love waking up and coming into work every day. I like hearing about all the great things volunteers in Manitoba are doing,” he said. Volunteer Manitoba has a staff of eight members that work hard year round to ensure all Manitobans have the resources they need to keep updated about the nonprofit sector in Manitoba. Dyck also said that Volunteer Manitoba actively promotes youth volunteerism through their Manitoba Youth Volunteer Opportunities Program or MYVOP at http://www.myvop.ca. This site provides information on youth volunteer postings, information about why volunteering is important, a resource centre and resume help. Every April during volunteer week, April 15- April 21, Volunteer Manitoba hosts their awards dinner. “This is such a feel good event,” Dyck said. “When I hear what these individuals have done, I sit there in awe of them. How much work they do in their communities, well, they’re just gold nuggets,” he said. Organizations greatly benefit from Volunteer Manitoba services. Organizations can tap into accessing training programs and workshops, assistance with recruiting volunteers and much much more. Carol Finlay, director, education and training development at the Arts and Cultural Industries Association or (ACI) said they have actively partnered with Volunteer Manitoba over the years. “ACI Manitoba and Volunteer Manitoba have gotten together to produce, promote and deliver training programs such as our upcoming course, The Art of Collaboration. We have also used them to find volunteers,” Finlay said. Finlay also said that ACI and Volunteer Manitoba have partnered to produce a specialized volunteer management course for the arts and culture sector which will be delivered all over the province. “The program is called “Looking to the Future…Engaging Today and Tomorrow’s Volunteer” and it is a one day volunteer management workshop for busy arts professionals.”

Interview with Aboriginal Elder

This is another excerpt of an interview I did with an Aboriginal elder for my Aboriginal Issues Assignment on March 17/2012

R09 0001

R09 0002

This is an interview I conducted with Glenn Chocrane an elder in the Aboriginal Community on March 17/2012. This is part of the Aboriginal Issues Assignment for my journalism class.
R09 0002

Aboriginal Issues Assignment

For my journalism class, my instructor gave us an assignment that entailed writing a blog post about an Aboriginal issue. Last week our class went to see an exhibit at the University of Manitoba about the history of residential schools.

It was very impactful and I highly suggest seeing it. I have been thinking about the exhibit ever since and have not been able to get the images and stories out of my mind.

I realized at the start of this assignment, I didn’t know very many Aboriginal people that I could talk to. I tried the social media avenue to connect to sources, but it still wasn’t easy.

I had a few people that I knew on facebook decline the interview due to busy schedules and some people said they would ask their friends but were not sure if they would be comfortable because this was a sensitive topic. It took me all week to just find sources that were open to discussing this topic with me. I thought this was interesting in itself.

I have a step son, Alix who is Ojibway. He is 11 ½ years old. I thought it would be interesting to talk to him about what he thought was an important Aboriginal issue. I decided to take the issue Alix thought to be important and address it with Aboriginal adults.

Alix Catagas goes to Greenway School that teaches students from kindergarten to grade six. Greenway school is located on Burnell Street and St. Mathews Avenue and Alix has attended this school since he was in kindergarten. Alix said he attends powwow classes every Wednesday from 4:00pm-5:00pm and likes it because he learns about his culture, the medicines and how Aboriginal people dance.

He also said he learns when ceremonies are going on in his community.
When I asked Alix what Aboriginal issue was important to him he had a clear answer immediately.

“I feel that the Aboriginal culture deserves more respect and representation in my community. I would like to see this in the form of more Aboriginal murals, festivals and statues placed throughout my community. I would like to see more programming in community centers geared toward Aboriginal culture too,” he said.

I was so proud of Alix to articulate such a thoughtful response. My husband and I also agreed with Alix As we drove around his neighbourhood to see symbols or identifying businesses that represented the Aboriginal culture we could not see very much.

Glenn Chocrane, 59 years old and father of three was born and raised in the North End. Glenn’s spirit name is Hunting Eagle that suggests he is supposed to work with younger people to open doors for them.

According to Glenn Cochrane’s biography, Cochrane is a visionary pipe carrier who received his rights of passage and teachings mainly through Elder Don Cardinal and his grandmother.

Glenn has been working in the Aboriginal Community for over 30 years in various capacities. He is an activist, educator and Aboriginal cultural leader who held various management and human service positions with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal non-profit, private and governmental organizations. Glenn was also the Director of the former gang prevention program for the City of Winnipeg Police Service.

Chocrane lives at his apartment at the student residents on Higgins Street located at the Aboriginal Centre at the campus.

This is where I met him for the interview. His passion pride for his culture is evident by his eagerness to share his culture with me through stories and Aboriginal art throughout his apartment.

“Adults forget that children see what goes on around them,” he said immediately.

“If the picture Aboriginal youth see is crime and poverty and nothing visual but boarded houses and boarded up businesses than what else do they have to aspire to? There does need to be more business and symbols that reflect where people have come from, he said”

Chocrane said, “We have to start over again and re introduce ourselves to each other. There is no need for poverty or racism anymore. Life is too short.”
He also said, “Community itself is not healthy because of the racism that is still alive and well. The work ethic with living in the city is a lot different from where they came from on the reserve or the community where they lived. They face culture shock.”

Chocrane also said, “We have a generation now that can do it. Things are changing. I see the community changing. I know we can fit in but we have to know how to fit in. The support from the political world and our leadership has to be on board and they are too busy fighting each other.”

My concern is he said, “Other races in different communities patronize their own businesses and this helps their communities survive. Hispanic and China town groups are good examples. Our people are yet to come together to do things and share things in order to support each other.”

Chocrane also said, “The government has done such a good job of segregating each other that it is difficult now. Our young people’s minds see what is in front of them and around them. They become their environment. If it is poverty, drugs alcohol and gangs that young people see, this is what you aspire to become. The environment dictates what these people aspire to be. Change is happening but it is slow going.”

Lara McCabe, 33, entrepreneur and owner of Peach Jam Skates located at the Forks is Métis.
McCabe said “There are some amazing programs that are happening in the city that encourage Aboriginal people, including youth, to get involved with artistic and cultural endeavors. It may be helpful to get involved directly with these programs so to add personally to the expression of Aboriginal youth in the city.”

McCabe also said “I think it's great that youth are getting involved in their culture at a young age and that they are able to articulate the feelings and ideas that they have to people that are willing to listen.”

Why I Love Journalism

The things I love about journalism:

Curiosity

All the fantastic people you would otherwise not get to meet

Promoting conversation

Continuous learning

The people behind the stories

Being there

Being aware

Being objective

Being present

Giving respect

Attention to details

Providing people with a voice

Painting a picture

The importance of word choice

Linking things together to build a story

Saying off the record

Creating news

Having a sense of urgency

Knowing when to end the story by feeling it

Seeing your name in print

Making people think

Learning how people feel

What things do you love about it?

The Savage War Assignment

The Savage War:

What worked for you?

The details really worked for me. The details really made me feel like I was there beside the main character. I felt the excitement and the horror of it all.

I liked the insightful descriptions of how the Taliban functioned. I also liked hearing about the inside functioning of the Canadian military and how their public image is managed on a journalism and public relations level.

I really enjoyed the tone of the book. It wasn’t a difficult read. Though it was long, it wasn’t difficult.

What didn’t work for you?

I found the book to be very long and I felt like I would never get through it at times. I felt that the chapters were dauntingly large and some things could have been edited out. At some points I was bored and trailed off and it was hard to stay focused.

What can journalists learn from this book?
From reading this book, I think journalists will learn that it is hard to desensitize yourself from the stories you are telling when they involve a different value system to that of your own.

In chapter two, Brewster discusses suicide bombings and what some of the globe and mail journalists found when arriving on the scene to see the remains of a suicide bomber. What they saw and had a deep impact on them.

Louie the photographer said, It’s Fucked, man. Why would anybody want to do that to themselves?”
Then Brewster writes none of us had any answers.

I also think Savage War will teach journalists that talking about situations and events is great but actually being there to see these situations unfold for puts a whole new meaning to truly understanding the story is being told.

On page 12 in chapter 2 Brewster writes:

It was the first time I actually felt like a hostage of the army. They could tell us as much or as little as they wanted, and they often chose the latter. In this case, they chose to say nothing, or next to nothing, which was probably worse. News, especially big news, abhors a vacuum.

How willfully inarticulate the Canadian military could be. Individual soldiers were, I found were wonderfully colourful and quotable, but the Canadian military as an institution seemed quite pleased to have a stranglehold on information and the movement of journalists.

What effect did the Savage War have on you?

It really made me see how Afghanistan is very much like its own operation. It made me really appreciate the dangers that journalist face when they are covering stories there. It made me imagine the stress that journalists would go through and how much they would sacrifice to get the story.

I think it made me see that not everyone could do this job and you really have to have an understanding of the culture and a respect for the customs to form effective relationships there.

How does this book compare with another non-fiction work about Afghanistan? Provide highlights of that other work?

I watched a documentary called Desert Lions by Lt. Col Mike Vernon. He came to visit journalism students in the Creative Communications program at Red River College to talk about his experience.

When I watched Desert Lions, I made a mental note to compare it to my experience reading The Savage War. What I liked about the documentary was that it was very visual and I knew exactly what I was seeing.

When I was reading The Savage War, much more was left to my imagination and interpretation of the written word. I liked seeing Afghanistan in a documentary because the footage seemed more real and raw.

I really liked seeing the footage of the soldiers when they were having their down time. It really made me see them as actual people and not trained machines. They too get super hot in the heat and sometimes needed to take their uniforms off and walk around in just their underwear.

I often wondered how soldiers could endure such hot temperatures and this showed me they had their breaking points to and they were human just like me.

I really saw the sense of urgency in the soldiers that were being filmed. When something went wrong, they immediately switched into soldier mode.

I also liked seeing how important a sense of humour was. In the documentary, the main fridge on the base was down and the soldiers were joking around saying they hoped they wouldn’t have tones of mayonnaise delivered that day. They all were able to laugh it out which made an awkward situation a bit more manageable. A sense of humour really shows a soldiers’ positive attitude.

I also thought it was interesting when the important attributes that a soldier should have was discussed. Patience for example, was the number one important skill because soldiers are constantly managing different demands. They are managing cultural demands, as well as demands from back home and finally, demands from higher ranks.

Another skill that was important for a soldier to demonstrate is restraint. When dealing in a different country with major language and cultural barriers, restraint would be the most important skill to hone. It is an important trait for a soldier to demonstrate restraint when conversing with Afghan soldiers specifically. This can be especially true when frustration builds and you are holding a loaded weapon.

I also thought it was interesting when the documentary described Afghan soldiers as being simple but effective. Other lines in the documentary that resonated with me were soldiers need to air, vent and grieve.

I thought this was an interesting because I would not have necessarily thought of the grieving part so much going hand and hand with the others. Primitive not offensive was another phrase I thought was insightful.

Finally, I thought it was very interesting when it was stated we are here to mentor them, not be and Afghan soldier. I thought that was very important to draw that line of distinction. I could imagine that it could at times become a grey area.