Friday, November 03, 2000
Numbers can mean a lot and they can mean nothing. Try 296, 334, 7,159...
Listed like that, they're just meaningless digits. Put in context, they paint a picture of violence and abuse across the North.
What is 296? The number of women admitted to safe shelters in the NWT over the past year. How about 334? That's how many children needed shelter from an abusive parent.
And 7,159 is the number of nights women and children spent in NWT shelters.
It's possible to list off pages of statistics, but the most important information is the fact that families are being torn apart by violence.
But while scores of women and children are being sheltered and many others are turned away, adding new beds is only part of the answer.
We must do all we can to give women and children a safe place to go when they're not safe at home, but shelters are only the first step.
The next step means giving the problem the importance it deserves - not just during a week dedicated to the recognition of the tragedy of family violence, but all through the year.
That includes educating women, children, men and whole communities to help break the cycle that sends ripples of abuse down through generations.
It means ensuring women aren't turned away from shelters when they need help. It means ensuring the legal system deals swiftly and effectively with abusers and that there's help available for them to understand that violence is no answer.
Most of all it means all of us must stand and be counted when we see signs of abuse.
A bruise on a woman's face is not a beauty mark; it is a sign that something could be wrong at home. Talk about it; don't hide behind whispers.
Because one of the most important numbers when we talk about family violence and spousal assault is 34 -- the average number of times a woman is abused before going to a safe shelter.
Once should be all that it takes.
The proof is out there. Yellowknife retailers are improving when it comes to refusing to sell cigarettes to minors.
Out of 18 Yellowknife retailers randomly checked by Health Canada's tobacco police last June, eight were found guilty of selling smokes to minors.
This time out of 19 compliance checks only one store got caught.
Clearly Yellowknife retailers are to be commended for their efforts.
According to a study conducted by the NWT Bureau of Statistics in 1996, 64.3 per cent of those between the ages of 15-24 smoke, which is almost double the national average.
Now if we can just get parents to take action when they realize their children are picking up this deadly habit we'd have a real hope of stopping these kids before they become addicted.
Most people expect a return on their investment.
But when it comes to time, a dedicated few invest countless hours and expect nothing in return.
Fortunately, there are those who remember to say thank you to these folks every once in a while.
St. John Ambulance recently lauded five Northern volunteers -- Glenna Hansen, Lynn Cook, David Connelly, Linda Heimbach and Alfonso Santos -- by honouring them with the Order of St. John.
With 21 years of service to the organization, Santos has been promoted to Officer of the Order.
These five stand out among their colleagues and peers for their selfless efforts. They also stand out from many of us because their mandate seems be figuring out what they owe life and not what life owes them.
As some non-profit organizations struggle to attract new helpers, the example of Jackie Jacobson stands out.
Jacobson was recently picked as one of two winners in the NWT of the Community Coach Award. It's a new award, designed for coaches at the community level.
Jacobson coaches peewee, bantam and midget hockey. He has coached in Tuktoyaktuk, where he grew up, for the past eight years. He coached in Fort McPherson for three years before that.
He said he grew up playing hockey, and still plays, but that the main reason he's into coaching is to see how the kids improve. He noted that he is playing alongside some people he has tutored, and that it makes him feel good when they whiz by him.
Jacobson was quick to acknowledge that the minor hockey system in Tuk is a good one, with a lot of support from the hamlet.
Doubtless this coach's pupils are also learning positive attitudes which will help them on and off the ice.
Positive progress
Progress is being made on a number of fronts in the battle to reduce the amount of waste produced in Inuvik.
The newly formed Inuvik Recycling Society is getting set to launch both a recycling program and an educational campaign next year. Their intent is to sell recyclable materials to Raven Recycling in Whitehorse.
The society plans to start small and gradually expand the line of products it can recycle.
President Jennifer Walker-Larsen points out that the society would be greatly helped by a deposit system on beverage containers, like pop bottles and juice boxes, such as exist in other areas. She notes such a system can provide funds to allow recycling of other products.
Meanwhile, Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development is studying the matter, and may recommend expanding the current deposit system (which currently only covers liquor bottles).
Certainly an expanded deposit system would be a great benefit, not just to the recycling society, but to the whole community. It could provide a healthy addition to allowances for enterprising youngsters, and could be used by various community groups to raise funds, as well.
A new use
Speaking of recycling, the Anglican Church Youth Group have found a new use for shoeboxes.
Members have been filling shoeboxes with various gifts, so that they can be sent overseas to needy children. The young people have also been encouraging others to fill boxes.
Operation Christmas Child, as the project is called, won't just provide children with precious gifts. It will also serve as a lesson to people here about the true meaning of Christmas.
Directors at the Yellowknife Association for Community Living are making the right decision.
First, they are right on with their assertion that Rankin Inlet's Taparti Centre should be run by Nunavummiut.
The centre's operations would no doubt benefit if their initial plan comes to fruition and the facility is eventually run by a Rankin-based group.
For meeting the needs of the people the centre serves, the more grassroots involvement, the better.
Secondly, we can't applaud enough the Yellowknife Association for Community Living's good common sense in recognizing the need for a year of transition.
This is an approach we should be seeing much more of in the Kivalliq.
Not only in organizations, private firms and corporations, but at all levels of government as well.
To spend a year or more under the tutelage of an experienced mentor is invaluable to a person learning about a position.
This is especially true if the person assuming the position is fresh from a training program or post-secondary course with little or no practical experience.
The benefits of a mentor-styled approach increase exponentially with the requirements or responsibilities the position carries.
Perhaps nowhere else on the planet does practical application differ so much from textbook learning than in the North.
In other words, one must learn the Northern ropes.
If events unravel the way the association hopes, its experience and expertise in running the centre since 1996 would be a valuable training tool for the group assuming operational responsibilities.
Hopefully, Nunavut's Department of Health and Social Services and any prospective local operators will recognize the value in this approach.
During the past 19 months we have seen many groups and individuals take on responsibilities and positions that they were not ready for.
Transitional timeframes with a mentor-type approach better prepares those who are assuming responsibility and, with it, accountability.
The better trained, educated and prepared individuals are, the stronger our territory will be.