Healing program to start in fall
Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services
Qikiqtarjuaq (May 14/01) - Johnny Ayaruaq won't give up.
A survivor of abuse he suffered at residential school in Chesterfield Inlet, Ayaruaq insists on staying healthy, both physically and emotionally.
"It's hard sometimes, but we have to go on," said Ayaruaq, now a resident of Qikiqtarjuaq.
"It's so emotional, but myself, I'm very strong. I am a survivor," he said.
Ayaruaq credits a workshop he attended in Iqaluit late last fall with giving him the skills he needed to keep moving forward. He said he learned how to counsel himself and has learned to become self-reliant.
"I am using those skills," said Ayaruaq. "Without them, I would need a lot of help."
The third of its kind, the $88,000 week-long workshop he attended was sponsored by the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. It brought men from each Baffin community to the capital to learn how to heal from past abuse.
It was hoped participants would share the skills they learned with other men and their families.
While Ayaruaq is working towards that goal, progress is slow now that the other Qikiqtarjuaq man who took the course has moved and spring has arrived.
He has turned to the hamlet's elders for help and said the plan now was to attempt to initiate a men's healing circle in the fall. He said it would mean greater participation and less need to interrupt the circle for summer hunting and camping.
"In springtime, there's hardly any families in Qikiqtarjuaq. It's better if we wait until September."
