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Giving children a voice

NWT educators, counsellors attend conference

Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 19/01) - For Greg Krivda, honouring the spirit of our children means listening.

After spending years in foster care and later jail, the Yellowknife Life Works counsellor knows what it is to be a government statistic.

Krivda and partner Terry Garchinski were among the 27 counsellors offering their insights at the Honouring the Spirit of our Children conference held in Yellowknife from Feb. 12 to 14.

The conference was sponsored by the ministries of education and health and was designed to provide professional development to school counsellors, educators and social service workers throughout NWT.

Youth, Garchinski said, need to know they have a voice.

That's especially important when alcohol, drugs and family violence are chronic community problems.

"For each of us, the answers lie within and if you can't get those voices out, then you can't be an effective helper," Garchinski said.

Krivda and Garchinski shared insights on "the rudiments of counselling" to an audience of about 20.

Some of the stories they told were harrowing: like one in which a 13-year-old girl was found passed out on the street.

When the teen was taken to hospital, her blood-alcohol content was .48. As she was sobering up, Krivda listened to her story.

"Doing these little things," he told the audience, "helps me to make a connection."

Education Minister Jake Ootes said that in addition to providing professional development to educators and counsellors, the conference also aimed to break down barriers between different government departments.

The objective, said Ootes, is "to start to combine our efforts at the local level."

Conference chair Leah Von Hagen, Health and Social Services' coordinator of early childhood education and school services, called the event a success.

"It was well received and well attended. People were saying 'please do this again," she said.