Team Sedna 2018

Hi everyone and thanks for checking out my GoFundMe page. My name is Holly Kondreska. I’m a First Nations Literacy Educator with Good Learning Anywhere, a Mother and an avid adventurer based in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I’m excited to join Team Sedna for the 2018 Arctic Expedition.



www.sednaepic.com

I love that the Sedna Expedition combines my love of the ocean, female empowerment and climate change awareness with a chance to return to the land, connect with Inuit people and inspire youth. Although I am First Nations, I was raised (lovingly) in a non-First Nations home. As with many similar stories, I grew up away from my land, my culture, my language and family ties. I have since met my birth family and have had many wonderful opportunities to connect with Indigenous communities. I strive to learn more of my history and now am eager to step out of my comfort zone and take larger steps (or giant-stride Arctic water entries).

Although the majority of my dive experience has been in warm waters, I’m excited to learn polar skills and get back into that water. I took my Open Water PADI certification in Key Largo, Florida, and then my Advanced Open Water on a liveaboard in Thailand. I’ve been lucky to have scuba dived throughout the Florida Keys, Thailand, Malaysia/Borneo, Bahamas, Jamaica and the cold waters of Lake Superior.



My most amazing adventure of all is being a mom to the most adorable kid ever. I know, it is a biased opinion. I just hope to be as cool as this little guy thinks I am.


Sedna Epic Expedition Overview

The all-female Sedna Epic Expedition is a multi-year underwater project—involving the study of climate change via snorkeling and diving—that takes place in Canada’s High Arctic. The Sedna Epic involves an international team of women ocean professionals working with Inuit and Inuvialuit girls and young women in the Arctic with a focus on health, wellness, environment and empowerment issues.

Engaging northern youth and community is critical because Canada’s Inuit communities in the Arctic live with the results of inter-generational trauma. This trauma manifests itself in ill-health, drug and alcohol abuse, poor education, poverty, teenage pregnancy and teenage suicide rates that are seven times the national average.  In the journey towards reconciliation, it’s key to focus on education as a means to heal. As stated by Justice Murray Sinclair of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, “Reconciliation requires deliberate, thoughtful and sustained action.”

Inuit and Inuvialuit societies are matriarchal in nature, and women often become community leaders. Team Sedna’s sea women hope to inspire and empower the next generation of young Inuit and Inuvialuit female leaders: In the process, we’ll help them redefine their relationship with the ocean, which covers 71 percent of the planet’s surface area. Most of the Inuit’s food comes from the ocean which is undergoing profound ocean change—disappearing sea ice, warming waters, changes in salinity, and acidification from absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Ocean change is causing food insecurity for northern communities.

Sedna’s sea women aim to inspire girls and young women to think big, to follow their dreams, no matter how big… Team Sedna also aims to give Canada’s Indigenous people a voice in the discussions of observing, documenting and mitigating climate change in the Arctic, ensuring that traditional Inuit knowledge is combined with scientific knowledge to tackle climate change and ocean change which has been occurring for several decades in the Arctic.

Sedna’s sea women have provided mentorship to Inuit youth since 2016, introducing them to the possibility of careers in marine biology, fisheries management, seafood harvesting, ocean engineering, marine archaeology, marine geology, climate science, movie-making, photography, and the nascent dive and snorkel tourism industry in Nunavut.



During August 4 - 17, 2018, the Sedna Epic will embark upon a dive and snorkel expedition, visiting two Inuit communities in Nunavut—Resolute Bay and Pond Inlet. Team Sedna will deliver its innovative ocean outreach program in these communities, bringing the ocean to eye level for Inuit youth and Elders via mobile touch aquariums that temporarily house with sea critters, by running underwater robot-building camps, and by deploying scuba divers wearing masks with underwater communications systems that enable them to speak to Inuit on the ocean’s surface.  Under the supervision of dive masters and wearing arctic-rated dry suits, Team Sedna leads Inuit girls and Elders on snorkel safaris near their communities, literally bringing the ocean to eye level for them. 


Your Support:

Unfortunately, mounting a dive and snorkel expedition to the High Arctic is very expensive. And, each volunteer participant is paying her own way. We’re mitigating the costs as best we can, but even with key sponsorships the trip will cost $20,000+ per person which includes flights, vessel usage, polar dive equipment, in-water safety: zodiacs and divemasters, expedition expenses: trucking and excess baggage for expedition gear; daily consulting fees for in-community support by Inuit community leaders in Resolute Bay and Pond Inlet; English-Inuktitut translation; long-distance team conference calls, Internet support, hotels and meals, etc.). Itemized breakdown upon request.

I’m hoping that this #GoFundMe campaign will help me raise three quarters of my costs ($15,000) to participate in the expedition, with a deadline of Friday, June 1st.

Your gift, no matter how small, will help lead the way in ocean education and inspire curiosity and action for all who watch, listen to, or experience the Sedna Epic Expedition—above and below the water…

Sedna’s women are on a journey of discovery, We hope to inspire and empower not only young Inuit women but ocean enthusiasts everywhere. I need your help to change lives, shift career paths, alter behavior, and spark a movement. 

Check my GoFundMe page for updates! I’ll be posting about Sedna, the inspiration behind the expedition, and what I am doing to prepare for this summer’s upcoming expedition.

Some additional links for you to peruse:


http://www.sednaepic.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/sednaepic

www.facebook.com/sednaepic

https://twitter.com/sednaepic

https://www.instagram.com/sednaepic