A lot has happened since our last post from Pinehouse. We have all been working on a variety of projects that the Interagency here identified for us when we arrived. These include diabetes education, mental health and addictions, sexual health, and getting a community garden started.
In regards to diabetes education, we have gotten the ball rolling on starting a Good Food Box, which is an affordable and healthy package of food conveniently assembled for purchase. We plan to include recipes, health tips, storage info, educational diabetes tidbits, etc., in the box. (To facilitate the start-up, we are hoping to receive a grant from the Health Region). Generally, Good Food Boxes have proven to be extremely successful in other parts of the province and I think it could be a great fit for Pinehouse. Finally, we will also be teaching nutrition to the grade 8s and perhaps do a radio show about healthy beverages.
As for sexual health, we have been asked to teach sexual education to a variety of grades. We have already given an STI talk to the 11/12s and Kiel and Devin were involved in the grade 9 talks. Kiel had the great idea of doing a radio show discussing how parents can talk about sex to their kids if they are uncomfortable with the teachers discussing it. Generally, it has been an interesting topic to look into and we are slowly amassing community opinions in regards to it and contraception in general.
The community garden is well on its way as well. Our third day here, we were working in the garden building plots and in our second week, we had the grade fours over to plant. It was a bit chaotic at first but everyone enjoyed it. The kids always ask how the garden is doing.
Speaking of chaos, Jess and I held a sleepover for girls in grades three through five on the 3rd. We had approximately 32 girls take part and it was held in the elementary school along with the help of three local teachers. To tie it to mental health, we included some programming regarding self-esteem and positive self image. One game included taping a blank piece of paper to the back of each girl and letting everyone else write something nice about that person. It worked out great until, as Kiel said, Bev Oda showed up and inserted "NOT" into the phrases. Sigh, we tried. Devin and Kiel were a huge help with cooking and cleaning and thank goodness the teachers were there to keep things calm! Or as calm as can be expected with 32 girls in one gym watching the Justin Bieber movie. I feel like I should insert a SQUEE and a heart around that name after this night...
Other things we've been involved with or done:
- Attended the Nuclear Waste Forum in Beauval. A whole topic on to itself.
- Prenatal Fair on the 16th, which turned out great.
- Meeting with Brad Wall on his visit to Pinehouse.
- Diabetic Foot Care Clinic and Retinopathy Clinic.
- Shadowing during doctor days, excepting me so far.
- Interagency and staff meetings.
- Taking part in assemblies.
- Running club. (The rec programming here is fantastic).
- Of course, some great down time allowing us to experience the North.
Sarah
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