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'Ready to take on world' Youth returns from national summit filled with energy
Myles Dolphin
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 26, 2013
NUNAVUT
At the ripe old age of 20, Jennifer Kilabuk is a veteran of the National Inuit Youth Summit.
The Iqaluit resident has just returned from this year's event, which took place in Kujjuak, Que., from Aug 16 to 21. Three years ago she attended the summit in Inuvik.
The event is an opportunity for Inuit youth from across Canada to gather and discuss important issues that affect their daily lives. This year, more than 100 youth aged 15-30 from over 50 communities attended the 20th anniversary of the summit.
Kilabuk was part of a 10-member delegation from the Baffin region.
She said the presentations and workshops were enlightening and made the overall
experience very enjoyable.
"I'm really grateful to have been invited," she said. "When I attended in Inuvik three years ago, I felt like I didn't quite know a lot about what was going on, what the major issues were at the time. This time, I knew a lot more and I felt like I could contribute.
"When I got back to Iqaluit I was ready to take on the world!"
Kilabuk was able to meet up with some old friends and make new ones along the way. She said opportunities for socializing and networking were plenty, and beneficial to her career.
She was able to attend this year's summit because of her close friendship with National Inuit Youth Council president Thomas Anguti Johnston.
"Three years ago he knocked on my door a few days before the summit and asked if I wanted to go," Kilabuk said.
"This year, 26 delegates from the Baffin region were supposed to go so they had spots available. He let me come along and help out."
On one of the last days of the summit, delegates from each region were asked to brainstorm and come up with five priorities they wanted to discuss.
The Baffin team came up with education, health, suicide prevention, culture and language.
"It was great being able to talk about issues that affect our personal lives back home," she said.
"It was also nice to hear a speech from the mayor of Kujjuak, who talked about attending the first NIYS summit in his town 20 years earlier."
A vote was held among all the delegates who attended the summit and it was decided that Iqaluit would host the next event, in 2015.
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