Repulse Bay (Nov 08/06) - A large number of local residents came out for the Take Back the Night march in Repulse Bay this past month.

The event saw members of the RCMP detachment, students, parents, council members, and Northern store, health centre and Co-op employees come together to protest violence against women in the Kivalliq.

The participants didn't take any shortcuts during the march, walking around the hamlet for two full hours.

As the group walked, more and more people would come out of their homes and join the march.

Students and staff at Tusarvik school were out in full force, even though they had precious little time to prepare for the event. School staff found out about the event the morning of the walk.

Principal Leonie Aissaoui said it can be hard keeping track off all the special events these days.

She said if no information is sent to the school, special events can slip through the cracks.

"We only found out about it because we got a call from a person who wanted to know what the school was doing to commemorate the event," said Aissaoui.

"We had to move fast to get the kids to make a bunch of posters for the walk, but only after we explained what the event was all about.

It serves no purpose to have students out walking around if they don't understand why they're doing it.

"After a few information sessions, they understood what it was about and were eager to take part."

Aissaoui said even though the students did a great job on their posters, staff members wished they had more time to discuss the event with the youth. She said one of the more interesting things the teachers noticed was a poster the kids made which read: No violence against men or women.

"I thought that sent a pretty strong message that these kids don't want violence of any kind in their lives.

"Next year, I'd like to be able to hold a workshop or in-service with the students to make it more of an important event because it's such an emotional topic."