Help Alex Go to Arviat, Nunavut

Hi friends and family!! 

My name is Alex O’Leary and this summer I have the incredible opportunity to go to Arviat, Nunavut for 2 months on a volunteer internship. Over the past 3 years at Queen’s, I have grown increasingly aware of the political and social conversations surrounding Indigenous communities in Canada. Being a student in Education, I am extremely passionate about the process of learning being a critical part of the advancement of Truth and Reconciliation, and creating empathy upon the basis of a deeper understanding for everyone. 

My Role

75% of the population in Arviat is under the age of 25, making it heavily youth centred and resulting in lots of overcrowded housing arrangements. While my co-intern and I are in Arviat, we'll be volunteering our help where the community has expressed the need for a few extra hands; However, I am most excited about the opportunity that I will have to step out of my comfort zone and learn more about Inuit culture. During the summer the fundamental demand stems from the need to engage youth in an active lifestyle that promotes cooperation, wellbeing and leadership while they are on their school break. We will be part of the day camp that runs in Arviat and promoting the leadership of the counsellors who have been continually developing their responsibility over the camp. We'll also be assisting in implementing a youth recreation program that is still in the early steps of self-sufficiency in the community. 

Why am I going?

As I mentioned earlier, allowing for the learning process in all aspects is really important to me. My project manager, my co-intern and I have spent the last few months having a lot of really tough, but thought-provoking  conversations evaluating our positionality as two white settlers going into a Northern Indigenous community. While I am excited about the possible outcomes of our contributions to the community projects, I am comfortable accepting that 2 months is a short period of time to make a tangible difference. That being said, I really want to focus on building genuine connections with community members in Arviat because that is something I can do, whether this means offering some extra support to individuals in the community or spending extra time learning about traditions that hold importance to Inuit youth. 

Above is the medicine wheel symbol. It holds varying meanings in each individual Indigenous culture, but broadly represents the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realities. 

I also want to use my experience with sports, leadership and peer support to encourage these skills among the kids in the community. Through group activities and 1-on-1 connections, I hope that I can share some of my knowledge about the importance of peer support in the face of mental health, problem-solving and wellbeing as a whole starting at a young age. I feel super fortunate to be able to spend my summer in this community and I hope to gain a further insight into the lives of Inuit people in Arviat to share this knowledge with my future endeavours in education and Indigenous culture.

While this adventure is new, exciting, and will certainly present a whole new set of challenges, it comes at a large financial cost - especially as a student. If you are able, please consider donating to my trip as every little bit counts. If you’d like to know what I’ve been up to leading up to and during my trip, I'll be doing my best to keep eveyrone updated on my Facebook page and hopefully a blog in the near future. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to send me a message, I'd love to chat with you about my passion behind this project! 

If you’d like to know more about the organization I am going to Arviat with, please check out their website here: Queen's Project on International Development

For more information on the Nunavut project specifically, please take a look at last year’s mid-summer report (Nunavut project on p8&9): QPID Mid-Summer Update 2016

Thank you so much for your generosity and I look forward to sharing my experiences with you all in the near future!