Media.Knet.Ca

Dr. Adams the Optometrist from Dryden is here is Keewaywin examining the students and the community members' eye sight. With him is his trusty assistant Mary Goodman who came here with him from Sandy Lake. They have the use of the clinic's conference room for the eye examinations. We are thankful that he is able to come here. I also took the liberity of taking some pictures. So if you want to take a look click EyeDoctor

Anna Owen opened the second day of the workshop with a prayer. Most of the local Health staff attended this planning session to share their community’s ideas and needs around the vision of “Good Health in Poplar Hill”. Lots of information was recorded as everyone began to understand the process of putting together our different goals and strategies to achieve this vision. The highlight was how everyone agreed that we need a new and larger Nursing Station to serve our community as soon as possible. Having 2 full-time nurses will help to achieve our community’s vision. See the Workshop Pictures and read the report on-line. New Health programs, services and training support were also identified and included in the list of things we would like to see in our community. The need for training of local staff to do all the work in these new programs and services will ensure we are successful in achieving our vision of “Good Health in Poplar Hill”. The final step in the planning process involved identifying which communication technologies we would require in the future for each of these programs and services. This information is being posted on the web, so everyone can review it and add more information whenever the need arises. Bella Moose closed the ICT planning workshop for the Poplar Hill Health programs and services. We thank everyone who participated and shared their ideas during this session.

Community members met on the evening of January 21, 2002 to begin their week long ICT planning workshop. The meetings are being held in Poplar Hill's new Smart Business Centre where the local e-Centre is located. The Introduction workshop turned out great with Chief and Council, Health Dircetor, Prenatal / Nutrition worker, NNADAP, Band Constable and the E-Centre staff attending. Galin showed us the surveys that were done in the years 2000 and 2001. One of the things these showed was the changes in the use of the Native language spoken in the homes. They also showed how computer use is climbing as more people are using it in their workplaces and to access information on the Intrenet. Dan Pellerin explained the network and how we're able to connect with other First Nations and organizations. He also explained how the cable system is being put into place in Poplar Hill. Video conferencing and telehealth services are being set up in all the KO communnnities to connect to other specialists. This network will support more wide open communication to the outside world. Dan also explained how much money is spent to operate the network and how we can charge different users of the networkso we to hire pay for the new staff like the E Centre staff and so forth. For the complete story on the work covered during this first evening of the workshop, visit the day 1 photo gallery.

On January 16, Ghassan Dbouk (Adcom Technician) and I travelled to Fort Severn to set up, test and provide training in the use of the new telemedicine suite at their local Nursing Station. This work is part of the NORTH Network and Keewaytinook Okimakanak Smart / Telehealth Project. See the pictures at http://photos.knet.ca/FStelehealth

January 14, 2002 marked a historic date for the evolution of training for Water Treatment Plant Operators in the north. Keewaytinook Okimakanak in conjunction with the Keewatin Patricia District School Board, Northern Waterworks Inc. and the Municipality of Red Lake played host to the first of a series of Water Plant Operator evaluations designed specifically to provide data that will ensure future training is specific to their needs. Keewaytinook Okimakanak is presently pursuing options for the establishment of a permanent training centre located in Red Lake that will be designed to provide the communities with an affordable and sustainable source for training services. The long term objective of this project is to ensure that all northern communities have a safe, reliable source for drinking water being operated and maintained by Provicially Certified Water Treatment Plant Operators. Read the newspaper article and see the picture in the January 16, 2002 issue of the Red Lake District News.

Hello! I'm Wanda Good assistant to Phil Beaumont, Conference Coordinator for the next World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education 2002(WIPCE-2002). The hosts of the next WIPCE are The First Nations Adult and Higher Education Consortium and the Nakoda Nation of Alberta, Canada. The conference will be held on August 4th-10th, 2002 in Calgary. This conference will attract 3000 to 5000 Indigenous Peoples from around the world. Conference activities include some of the following: - Workshops/seminars by Indigenous Peoples from around the world on Education, Indian Movements, Treaties, Traditional Practices. - International Indigenous games, such as canoeing, lacross, horse events. - Cultural entertainment, with groups from Hawaii, Maoris from New Zealand, Australian Aboriginees, Africans. This conference may not come back to Canada for many years to come. It may be a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of our people. Check us out at www.fnahec.org/wipce2002. Early registration has been extended to February 28, 2002. So get your registrations in. Inform you elders groups, etc. Anyone who may be interested! You may contact me at (403) 212-2676, or by email wipce@fnahec.org. Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

On Saturday, January, 19, The Pelican Falls First Nations High School's hockey team and the undefeated Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School's ThunderHawks will be playing at the Sioux Lookout Memorial Arena. The show, starting at 7pm, will be a good one said one student as he was walking to his Class.

Bimaychikamah Wolf Pack 1st Annual Invitational Youth Hockey Tournament is scheduled for February 8-10, 2001. The entry fee is $300.00/Team and it is open to both boys and girls, ages 9-13. There should be at least one player representing the respective age group. The tournament will be played in an outdoor rink setting. For more information or if interested please contact myself at Michaelloon@hotmail.com. Entries will be accepted until January 31, 2002 at 12:00 p.m..

FIRST NATIONS CONNECT Conference

February 11 to 14, 2002 in Thunder Bay, ON Conference Poster Keewaytinook Okimakanak’s Kuh-ke-nah Network (K-Net) and Nishnawbe Aski Nation are inviting representatives from each Nishnawbe Aski Nation community to a conference to explore strategies and applications that will support building a NAN wide network that connects all the First Nations using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). We are asking that each NAN First Nations send one local champion who will participate in all aspects of the conference to determine the best strategy to have your community connected to this network. All the conference information is being made available on-line at as it is produced for distribution. Be sure to visit http://smart.knet.ca/conference for the latest updates. For Conference Registration Information, please contact: Cheryl Bechard Keewaytinook Okimakanak Box 340, 127 Mine Road Balmertown, ON P0V 1C0 Tel: 1-800-387-3740 Fax: 1-807-735-1383 Conference Questions? Call 807-735-1381 or 800-387-3740 and ask for David OR 807-737-1135 (Toll Free: 1-877-737-KNET (5638) and ask for Brian

The Zone Hospital is now set up with the Adcom telemedicine suite in their renovated clinic / examination room and a videoconferencing unit located in their library. This equipment is presently connected to the K-Net Network so meetings and CME can be conducted using either unit. These units are part of the NORTH Network Telehealth Initiative that will provide a connection to the hospitals across Northern Ontario (including Thunder Bay Regional Hospital, the Margaret Cochenour Memorial Hospital in Red Lake, etc), as well as connections to the Health Science Centre in Winnipeg and Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto (and several other health programs and services) for a complete selection of telemedicine services. Funding for this $17 million project is coming from Health Canada (CHIPP), Industry Canada (FedNor), Northern Ontario Heritage Fund (NOHFC), the Ministry of Health, all the project partners and many other programs and projects across the province. During the installation (January 9, 10 and 11), the Adcom Technician (Gus) worked with Barbara Roche (the Zone Hospital's Telehealth Coordinator), John Moreau (K-Net Helpdesk Coordinator / Technician) and many others to test and troubleshoot the equipment. A number of pictures were taken of the equipment, the locations, the tests, the training and the people involved. These pictures can be found at http://photos.knet.ca/Telehealth. For more information, contact Barbara Roche at the Zone Hospital (737-3030), John Rowlandson (Keewaytinook Okimakanak's Telehealth Project Manager) or Christine Penner Polle (KO's Telehealth Coordinator) at 800-387-3740.