The Engage North Program

So, what is Engage North? How did I get this fabulous opportunity in the first place?

Engage North is a program run under Ualberta North, an organization with the University of Alberta (where I'm doing my undergrad). Libby (Beaver First Nation Intern) explained the program better than I ever could, so I'll paraphrase her here: "Engage North connects students to Northern FNMI communities. The communities have identified some specific projects and goals they would like to accomplish and interns are matched with them to help complete those goals."

My internship has a lot of varied duties, and I honestly don't know everything that is yet to come. More than anything, I'm a set of helping hands for the community. I do know is that a lot of my work is with YKDFN to run their greenhouses and community gardens, as that is a significant portion of my education background (Conservation Biology major). The Ndilo community has had a greenhouse and community garden for several years, so they need some hands to help get it cleaned up, the soil prepped and planted for the growing season, followed by typical gardening maintenance. Yesterday, I went in and got my hands dirty for the first time and it was amazing. The building is so warm and inviting, and people pop their heads in to talk and see what's going on. It's really one of the centers of the community. Of course, getting a greenhouse going every season is a lot of work, but the fruits of your labour (pun intended) show every time you work on it.

Dettah is a bit different. They put their greenhouse up last summer, so this will be their very first growing season. I believe a lot of my time will be spent out there helping to get everything set up. I'm so excited to see how the gardens come together and watch the first food grow. Everything tastes so much better when you put the work in to grow it yourself.

Because of the long weekend, the community is quiet. I'm savoring the opportunity to take walks and enjoy the calmness before the real work starts. It seems like every night I walk outside to take a picture of the midnight sunset over Great Slave Lake. The lake is still frozen, can you believe that? I don't know how I'll feel when the sun is up almost 24-hours and I'm trying to sleep, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. It's an amazingly beautiful sight now. It's not as cold as I imagined it would be either, which I'm grateful for. Everything really feels like it's falling into place and the vibe everyone gives me is nothing but friendly and welcoming.

I'm sure I won't be so overjoyed when I'm actually working every day ;)

Here's some quick pictures to show you how beautiful this place is!

This was taken at 11PM!!!! The sun is out forever!

Talk to you folks soon,

Rachel