Keeping Prince Albert Urban First Nations Children Occupied

OPINION-EDITORIAL BY TED MERASTY

Carol Merasty, far left, had the charge of these youngsters, who were having a snack at the Allan Bird Memorial Centre in Prince Albert. SUBMITTED PHOTO

The Urban Aboriginal Strategy is funded as a pilot project by the federal government, and Prince Albert is one such site. A key goal of this project is to get urban First Nations children involved in positive activities. In Prince Albert, that means getting the children involved in various activities they otherwise may not have had an opportunity to participate in previously.

The PBCN Urban Office applied for the program and it is overseen by Brenda Roberts, with Carol Merasty and Arthur Bear running the day-to-day activities. Since the program began in the spring of 2006, they have had the youth involved in such activities as storytelling, softball, swimming, hiking, canoeing, bowling, indoor sports, art, drama, and Halloween activities. Winter is upon us and they now have hockey, skating, skiing and sliding planned. The two staffers have done everything imaginable to occupy the young people’s time, and I am sure the many parents whose children are involved appreciate all they do for them. But, like any new government program, it’s not without its issues.

Although the parents greatly appreciate the program, one of the issues related to its use is that the funding is available only for certain criteria, and that out-of-pocket funds spent by the two staff take time to be reimbursed. There are not many jobs out there where an employee must lay out their own money in order that a program may work properly. The staff also does not have a home office to call their own. It’s difficult to find the staff when they don’t have their own office space, let alone their own phones for parents to call. The biggest hurdle of all is that there is no reliable available transportation for the children at any given time. Granted, they do appreciate the occasional use of the PAGC van, but it’s available only on certain days and there is little control over it, which makes it tough to plan activities, especially the weekend variety.

But hey, it’s not for a lack of trying. The staff does a remarkable job of ensuring the boys and girls are kept occupied in so many different activities. It’s a fact that paying for these weekly activities would be out of reach for many urban First Nations, and when you keep kids occupied in the city, you keep them out of other not-so-desirable activities. I can also understand that any new program may need to work out its glitches and that whatever issues exist can be ironed out.

On a last note, some of the other positive aspects of this program for youth age 10-16 is that they form a peer group where they have positive role modeling, learn team building, improve cooperation skills, participate in different social interaction settings, and while they are learning they also have a great deal of fun. Doesn’t that sound like a program we all want our kids to be in? The kids recently volunteered at the Prince Albert Festival of Trees event and the organizers greatly appreciated their hard work. If you want to inquire about this program, call (306) 765-5311. If you already have a child in the program, throw a thank you to the workers’ way once in a while. It would do the staff a world of good to know their efforts are appreciated.

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