The Wabano Centre for Aboriginal Health has been serving Ottawa’s urban Aboriginal community for ten years now. With a mandate to provide quality, holistic, culturally-relevant health services to Inuit, Métis and First Nations communities of Ottawa, the Wabano Centre has always aimed high in its program planning. In 2009, the centre delivered March Break and summer camps that definitely hit their marks.
Marking its fifth consecutive year of financial support to the Centre, the Ottawa Community Foundation is proud to have been able to support Wabano’s “Igniting the Fire” camp programs in 2009. This camp was designed to enable Aboriginal children and youth to attend a week-long cultural camp in a rural setting to learn traditional and social skills. Taking place at Camp Opemikon on Christie Lake, camp activities included traditional teachings with elders, life skills workshops, employment skills training, and an ongoing focus on healthy eating and physical activity.
Ranging in age from 7 to 15 years, Wabano’s male and female campers represented a wide array of Aboriginal heritages, including Cree, Inuit, Ojibway, Mohawk, Métis and many more, at the first March Break camp. Despite their diverse heritage, many of the young people share similar challenges in their day-to-day lives. Like a large number of other urban Aboriginal youth, socio-economic difficulties are common and many are coping with high levels of stress and mental health issues. By educating campers about their culture and heritage, camp leaders try to instill a sense of self-determination amongst the youth, and to mentor them to believe in themselves and their ability to succeed.
“Our decade-long experience in front-line service delivery has helped us to understand that culture is one of the most important protective factors for youth,” said Carlie Chase, Wabano’s Director of Initiatives. “We believe that educating Aboriginal youth on matters of culture is absolutely essential to self-determination, success, and the combating of prejudice and discrimination. The grant provided by the Ottawa Community Foundation to support these camps is allowing us to help these young people begin to explore their identity and to venture onto the path of self-determination.”