The Leaders Reader - Ka Ni Kanichihk

P A G E 2
Honouring Gifts
Honouring Gifts is a program designed for
Aboriginal women, 18-30 years old, to discover
their gifts and talents so that they can
contribute to society economics and within
themselves.
The Honouring Gifts program is instills
leadership qualities while simultaneously
creating awareness of careers and postsecondary
education facilities to our participants.
The impression is for the participants
is to make stepping stones in their
journey of being independent women and
Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc. is their guide.
The Honouring Gifts participants have currently
undergone six to eight weeks that
consisted of a series of certificate training
workshops such as; WHIMIS, Food Handlers,
First Aid/CPR, ASSIST (Suicide Intervention)
and Manitoba’s Best Customer
Service. The certificate training was a great
asset to the program because some women
did not have experience or education for
Information and Office Administrative Assistant
My name is Gail Constant, and I would
like to share a story with you that my
son shared with me when he was
seven:
As me and Kyle were walking home from
school one day, we started to talk about the
problems that were going on in the family
and how there was so much anger.
“Mom, this is how I see anger,” Kyle said
and held up his hand, “imagine that this is
you,” he motioned to his hand. “Now, when
you get angry, imagine you getting cut in
half,” Kyle makes a chopping motion to his
hand. “Now, when that happens one half
flies away, and goes away and gets lost. Now
imagine the next time you get mad you only
have one half of you left, and when you get
mad again that half gets cut in half and goes
away and gets lost,” Kyle again makes the
chopping motion to his hand.
Kyle continues, “Now imagine you have a
half of a half left of yourself and you get mad
Article submitted by
Chasity Levasseur
—Career Exploration Coach
their resume to even be given a chance
for employment. Now they are building
on their resumes to inform employers
that they are qualified for employment.
Opportunities for women participating in
the Honouring Gifts program enlightens
their futures on so many levels it creates
foundations for the individual and is reclaiming
the power that Aboriginal
women once had, not too long ago. Our
Aboriginal women Ancestors did all the
work for our families and at Ka Ni Kanichihk
we are creating that once again!
Our Honouring Gifts women are
seeking employment in all levels of
work environments. If you are interested
in contributing and sharing
your knowledge as an employer to
an individual employee (Honouring
Gifts women), please give us a call.
We are currently seeking employers
for our practicum placements.
again that half of a half gets cut in half and goes
away and gets lost.”
Kyle continues with a more serious look,
“Now if you keep getting mad, pretty soon
you’re left with a little piece of yourself, and
the more you get mad, then pretty soon there
will be nothing left of you, and poof, you disappear.”
Kyle motions to his hand as if to produce a
cloud of smoke when disappearing. Then Kyle
looked at me and said, “Now if you want to
find yourself, you have to quit getting mad, and
you have to go find all those little pieces of
yourself and put yourself back together.”
I use this story, and remember it every
time my anger
starts to get a
little uncontrollable
again.
It really helps
me keep it in
check.
Instructor’s Corner
Information
Communication
Technologies
has
revolutionized
our
economy
Nathan Vreyborg, Instructor the same
way that
gas, steam and electricity had transformed a
primarily agricultural society into an industrial
one over a hundred years ago. These three
ingredients have propelled countries that have
embraced these innovative technologies to
the forefront of economic and social development.
Those countries and societies that
were slow to adopt these new ways were
usually pushed to the periphery and marginalized
by the world in general.
The need for skilled workers in Manitoba and
in international markets, raise many questions
for Aboriginal people; would it be possible for
our people to capitalize on these digital opportunities
and participate in an increasingly
driven economy. Many Indigenous peoples
across the world have heeded the call for
embracing these new technologies and have
started to reap the rewards and the benefits.
By careful planning, bring together economies
of scale and forming partnerships in private
and public sectors, communities can fully
participate and profit economically and socially.
Future generations will be the ultimate
benefactors of this foresight and planning.
Youth will have access to high education and
good paying jobs; aboriginal organizations and
communities can tailor education programs
that are pertinent to their economic situation
and capitalize on private sector labour demands.
Aboriginal people in Manitoba have incredible
opportunity to harness and utilize Information
Communication Technologies in a way that
will revolutionize how business is done and
how services are delivered to people and in
their communities. These developments can
and will have a direct impact on the stand of
living and the quality of life for all Aboriginal
peoples.
T H E L E A D E R S R E A D E R