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The telehealth planning group met at the Sioux Lookout Zone Hospital on Friday May 25 to discuss the NORTH Network (http://www.northnetwork.com) initiative that recently received funding from Health Canada (CHIPP program) to develop telehealth services in partnership with a number of health service providers in Northern Ontario. Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations and their Kuh-ke-nah SMART initiative are the only First Nation groups included in this 18 month demonstration project. We were represented at the meeting by community health representatives from Keewaywin, North Spirit Lake and Poplar Hill, along with other Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff and resource people. Doctors, nurses and administrators providing services across the Sioux Lookout region (from the Zone Hospital, IFNA program and the Sioux Lookout Disctrict Health Centre) attended the session to learn about this project and how these new services can be used in their work. Doctors, nurses and staff from Toronto, Timmins and Thunder Bay who are working with the NORTH Network also attended. Check out the pictures from the meeting

The day before Dr. Ed Brown, Director of the NORTH Network project, met in Balmertown with Dr. Aaron Feldstein and Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff to discuss strategies for making the telehealth project work in KO First Nation health centres.

Galin Kora, Ricardo Ramírez and Brian Beaton travelled to North Spirit Lake First Nation on May 23 -25, to meet with the Chief and Council and other community members to discuss and plan for Keewaytinook Okimakanak's SMART initiative. Galin and Ricardo work with Telecommons Development Group (http://www.telecommons.com) which is partnering with Keewaytinook Okimakanak to develop a set of tools that will be used to gather information about how ICTs are being used in the First Nations to affect economic and social changes. Together with the community, plans are being made to prepare for a community workshop in the fall that will examine how community members and groups want to use ICTs within their community over the next three years.

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TeleCommons Development Group staff member Galin Kora (partners in KO's SMART project) spent the week of May 14 in Sioux Lookout preparing presentation materials for trips to each of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations. This part of the SMART initiative involves both the community engagement and project evaluation components where tools are prepared in consultation with the First Nations to assist them in planning and evaluating the project. Video conference meetings were held with the different sites that were going to be visited the following week. Check out the pictures

Fort Severn First Nation hosted a workshop for young people, parents, community leaders on the weekend of May 4, 5 and 6 (the first snow geese were just arriving). The Local Education Authority and school staff worked to raise the funds to bring Jerry Harmon of the Recovery Foundation back to Fort Severn to deliver a second community workshop entitled Building A Bridge for Change - Bringing Youth and Adults Together.
All the participants of this year's school trip participated in this workshop as part of their preparation for this exchange program with Port Alberni students. (the Fort Severn First Nation - Port Alberni, British Columbia Exchange Program, May 6 - May 15, 2001)
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Peter Homulos, Senior Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Canadian Heritage travelled with Brian Beaton to Fort Severn First Nation to meet with the Chief and Council and other community members about Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Native Language proposal.
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John Moreau and Lars Dixon (K-Net Technicians) went into North Spirit Lake the first week in May to install the new video conferencing unit at the North Spirit Lake SMART building. John put a lot of pictures around the community to document the local community network.
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