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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Before 27-year-old Erica Abel joined the Believe in Yourself program, she was stuck in an abusive relationship, using drugs and alcohol.

She put her baby up for adoption.

Eileen Betsina and her daughter, Erica Abel, are taking part in the Believe in Yourself program in N'Dilo. - April Robinson/NNSL photo

She felt like an outcast.

Now, when Abel thinks of her two daughters, aged five and five months, she said it makes her want to become a better person.

“I want to see my grandchildren. I want to be old and grey and bounce them on my knee,” she said last week. “I want to break this cycle.”

Abel is one of 16 people halfway through the six-month program, offered at the Community Services Centre at the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. The program is paid for by the GNWT's Department of Education and Culture.

The full-time program offers counselling and support for people who have “barriers in their life preventing them from moving forward,” said Debra Buggins, program co-ordinator and counsellor. “The biggest component has to do with personal healing."

Participants spend five days a week together, learning how to take ownership of problems in their life. They take computer courses and upgrade their math and English skills. They take parenting workshops and learn how to cope with addictions.

“A lot of them have been traumatized in some way,” Buggins said.

So they support each other as a group and talk about how co-dependency and lateral violence – when someone tries to oppress you – have impacted their life. All participants but one are aboriginal. For many, understanding their history of colonization, assimilation and residential schools helps clarify the traumas in their life.

Many of the activities are hands-on, such as mask-making, creating a “spiritual-wellness box” or writing in a journal.

Last week, they were learning the difference between anger and rage. Some say they've stopped themselves from getting angry at home – just one example of how the program has affected them.

“I've seen so many changes in such a short time,” Buggins said. “Miracles are happening.”

Nora Martin said she is beginning to understand the root of her alcohol and crack addictions.

“I was all in chaos,” said Martin, a N'Dilo band member. “I was raised in an alcoholic home. My mother was in a residential school."

“Now I understand, and I can put my trust in this group.”

The end goal for the participants is either to enrol in school or to find a job.

Abel, who's in the program with her mother, Eileen Betsina, says she used to enjoy school, but dropped out when alcohol and drugs took over her life.

“I'm going back to school and I'm excited,” she said.

Finishing Grade 12 isn't enough for her – she said she wants to get a university degree.

“I never realized how smart I am.”