NUNAVUT
When FOXY (Fostering Open eXpression among Youth) won the full $1-million Arctic Inspiration Prize in 2014, the idea was it would begin offering workshops on sexual health, healthy relationships and empowered decision-making in Nunavut.

Nancy MacNeill, left, Athena Sharp and Candice Lys of FOXY (Fostering Open eXpression among Youth) stand in front of body maps created by young women at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit who took the day-long FOXY workshop Nov. 25. The team was headed to Arviat the next day to offer the sexual health, sexuality, and relationships workshop. - Michele LeTourneau/NNSL photo

On Nov. 25, they spent the day with young women at Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit, with the next stop Arviat. Earlier in the year, they offered the workshop in Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk.

Sixteen-year-old Athena Sharp, originally of Rankin Inlet, joined the team of executive director Candace Lys and project co-ordinator Nancy MacNeill this year as a peer leader.

When Sharp was 11, living in Fort Smith, NWT, she attended the first ever school workshop offered by FOXY.

Asked what had the most impact on her, Sharp said, "Seeing how open (Candice and Nancy) are. It was just so easy for them to talk about sex. When I was in Grade 7 that was a crazy concept to me. Talking about sex so openly, that was really cool. It was like getting to be a grown up without actually growing up."

Sharp explains she was able to mature intellectually.

"It made me realize when that time comes, when I want to engage in sexual activity, I'm going to know what to do."

When she says "knowing what to do," she is also talking about making decisions.

Made in the North

FOXY is a uniquely Northern organization and project, begun by Lys as doctoral research in 2010. Lys is from Fort Smith.

"When I did my Masters research, I talked to young women across the North about what their experiences with sexual education were and what they wanted to see in sex ed. A lot of them were telling me that they wanted something that was really hands on, something new and different, and much more exciting than what they were getting," said Lys.

"And more comprehensive than what they were seeing in school."

With her PhD, Lys wanted to build on that research and FOXY, a participatory action research project, was the next logical step.

"I see a lot of PhD research where people spend a lot of time, do a lot of work, and it winds up sitting on a shelf and doesn't have a lot of real-world, practical application to it. I really wanted to do something that would have a real benefit to my home community and the North."

MacNeill adds, "Candice really wanted to find a way to make sexual health matter, not just to young people, but as a way to make these things more a part of our lives. So it wasn't just about how do we deliver this one thing. It was really about how do we change perspectives and how do we make this a priority for other people."

Lys jokes about being quoted in her very first media interview as saying her ultimate goal is world domination.

"In a lot of ways it is. FOXY is meant to do incremental change. Speaking to small groups of girls everywhere, all over the place. All these networks and pods of young women who are educated and excited and moving forward the knowledge that we're bringing to them.

"The ultimate goal is really systems change. How we talk about sexual health in the North, how we think of healthy relationships. Starting with the youth, and down the road, I think, we can see change within generations . to ultimately lead to a stronger North"

Student-led workshop

Throughout a day-long workshop, girls and young women learn about themselves, their bodies and their own power to choose through arts activities, such as body mapping and theatre.

"The day-long workshop is high energy, it's packed," said MacNeill.

"What we do for body mapping is we get the girls to trace their body. Then they do a series of guided visualizations about where they come from, where they feel like they're going, who their support networks are, how they make decisions, what their body tells them, how they know when they're in a safe situation and an unsafe situation. And then we add power symbols.

"You end up with a life-sized portrait of your personality."

Sharp says through the workshops she tuned into her feelings related to sex. Every year that FOXY returned to Fort Smith, Sharp attended the workshops, except for one.

"For some girls it's a one-time thing," MacNeill. "But there are a few girls, like Athena, who join us for our first workshop and attend each one."

Sharp says the workshops become more meaningful over time.

"At my first workshop when I was in Grade 7, a lot of the stuff was important and I'd think about it, but I knew I wasn't going to use it. And as I continued in more workshops, the stuff that I learned became more a part of my life. Information that I would think about and play out in my mind."

An important aspect of the workshop is what Lys and MacNeill call "student-led sex ed."

"They get a chance to tell us what they think about sex. We get into bodies and periods and where babies come from, and everything like that. That's always really interesting because that always helps us know what their priorities are. It's always really nice to learn that girls are learning on their own."

A game called "myth versus truth" is introduced.

"It's a really direct way to address some of the myths that are around," said MacNeill.

The team also leads a game of healthy relationship charades.

"They brainstorm words about healthy and unhealthy relationships and act hem out in pairs. That's where we talk about non-verbal communication and do a bit of assertiveness training."

Most recently Sharp attended the organization's Peer Leader Retreat, after which Lys and MacNeill hired her to join them as a peer leader. Peer leaders spend a week immersed in learning about self-empowerment and leadership with an elders and arts leaders, and they plan a community project to carry out in their own communities. FOXY hopes to have a few spots open for young women from Nunavut next summer.

The program is also growing to include boys and young men.

Since 2012, FOXY has offered more than 70 workshops in more than 20 communities across the NWT and held four Peer Leader Retreats at Blachford Lake Lodge, reaching over 800 young Northern women.

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