First Nation youth invited to share their stories in "Telling our Healthy Stories" contest
Press Release
Telling our Healthy Stories: A contest for Aboriginal youth in Ontario
October 30, 2009… Health Nexus is pleased to announce Telling our Healthy Stories, a contest for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis youth in Ontario from ages 12 to 29.
“Aboriginal people are famous for their stories,” says Melanie Ferris, Aboriginal health promotion consultant at Health Nexus. “We have been telling stories forever.”
Health Nexus, a non-profit organization, has been working with Aboriginal people in Ontario to develop a toolkit and training on the topic of preventing childhood obesity in First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. The toolkits and training are being made available early next year, in 2010, to more than 750 service providers across Ontario.
“We’re working to promote healthy living with all Aboriginal people, but we recognize that youth play a very special part in these communities,” explains Barbara Willet, executive director at Health Nexus. “Aboriginal youth make up the largest segment of the native population, and many of them are achieving wonderful things.”
Although Aboriginal youth are the biggest segment of native people in Canada, they are often misrepresented and underserved when it comes to programs and services. Health Nexus recognizes that Aboriginal youth have a unique voice and perspective, and encourages them to share their storytelling talents to contribute to a better toolkit and more useful training for these service providers.
“We’re asking youth to send us a story, about 2 to 3 pages, telling us about the healthy things they see going on around them,” states Ferris. “They might have a cool role model, they might attend a really cool drum circle with physical activity, or maybe they have a community garden.”
Health Nexus has a council of more than 10 Aboriginal advisors, including representation from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis organizations. The council hopes to get a wide range of stories in by the deadline on November 30, and will choose 3 winners by mid- December.
“We want stories from each community,” says Ferris. “We’ll choose stories that are empowering and informative. Winners will get a digital camera valued at $500 to take photos that represent their stories, and then they’ll create powerful tools called video stories. Once they’re done the project, we’ll give them a $100 honorarium as thanks for their time and energy.”
Youth may submit their story in Cree, English, French, Inuktitut, Mohawk, Oji-Cree, or Ojibwe. If they submit in an Aboriginal language, the youth must provide an English or French translation. Youth may submit one story on their own or as part of a group/class.
Health Nexus acknowledges funding made available for this project from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. It will make a list of winners available on its website, and will post the video stories for the public. The video stories will also be distributed widely as part of the toolkit on preventing childhood obesity.
For full contest guidelines or to see an example of a video story announcing the contest, please visit www.healthnexus.ca
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For more information:
Melanie Ferris, Aboriginal Health Promotion Consultant at Health Nexus
Direct line: (416) 408-6913
m.ferris[at]healthnexus.ca
www.healthnexus.ca