"In the Future it Will Change"

Renee helps one of the kids with his hotdog at the barbecue

Happy belated Aboriginal Day! To celebrate, the Heritage Society held a barbecue, where people could come to hang out with their neighbors and get free food, of course! The event was held at the Youth Centre, so most of the clientele was kids...very hungry kids! : ) I cannot tell you how pleased I am that the Youth Centre reopened. During the summer, there is not much for kids to do. All of the kids not yet old enough to work complain that they are bored and want to go back to school. The Youth Centre is a wonderful chance for them to socialize in a healthy environment.

At the beginning, it took me a while to realize that the Heritage Society's camera only works with Mac computers. When I figured it out, I tried unsuccessfully to load the video onto my PC. I resigned myself to working with iMovie, a tedious and frustrating video-editing software. After a few weeks of figuring out the program, I got the recycling video together. We were supposed to premiere it at the barbecue today, but then remembered that the projector doesn't work with Mac computers. After several attempts to burn the video to a CD, I finally gave up.

It is probably better that we didn't announce to the community that the director of a local company was donating a shed to house the recyclables. Earlier today, we walked over to his office to discover that he had quit the day before. Also, the lady who is in charge of approving land use permits is leaving tomorrow, so since the new director couldn't commit, it looks doubtful that I'll be able to get the permit approved by the time I leave.

I have told you all of the challenges I encountered because they have culminated to one of the summer's biggest life lessons: where there's a will, there's a way. It is a trite statement, perhaps, but never before has it applied to my life than now. I knew before I started the project that it would probably not be comleted before I left. Now that I only have about a week left in Cambridge Bay, I am forced to think about the feasibility of this project in the long term. I must face the unfortunate possibility that it will never be completed. Over the next few days, I will write up directions for how the project should work, including contact information of the businesses involved and suggestions for future improvements.

You see, I don't want to be another outsider that comes into Cambridge Bay with a great idea, gets everyone excited about it and then leaves without seeing it through. Granted, by this point in the life of the community, it is very difficult for them get excited about any new ideas, since they have seen so many broken promises in the past. The last thing I want to do is break my promise to the kids and this community.

Nigel really enjoyed his hotdog!

I hope that this project is completed simply because I want the kids to know that they have the power to change their community! Yesterday, I sent a message via facebook to one of the guys who I filmed for the video, thanking him for his participation. This is part of what he wrote:

"Thank you for the opportunity of getting us into recycling and going green. We finally have the part of the community on our side, I hope this changes the community. Now we wait and observe the town. In the future it will change. "

If nothing else, I hope that during my brief stay here I communicated to the kids how strong I think they are. Hopefully, the video will convey the idea that it only takes a few people to better a community, and that if they are passionate about something, they should pursue that passion.

I want a hat like Nigel's!