Deep Water Dream by Gretchen Roedde

Author:Gretchen Roedde [Roedde, Gretchen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2018-12-14T16:00:00+00:00

Frank McKay was the health program director for the Windigo Tribal Council, north of Sioux Lookout, in Nishnawbe Aski Nation. To this day, he remains the best leader for whom I have ever worked. The communities he represented wanted their own trained health workers and did not think the CHRs who’d trained at a community college farther south had the right skills. Frank explained, “Many of those trainees drop out, especially those from the far northern reserves. It’s too hard to be away from family for so long and too tough to adapt to living in a ‘white’ environment.”

I could relate, given my own time away from my family learning how to train health workers in Third World settings. This had included writing curriculum. Frank wanted local input to what the health workers would be trained to do. I figured we could talk to the communities and find out their priorities, then Frank would guide me to write the curriculum and format skills training sessions. We’d need Indigenous trainers. We could do the training up north under actual job conditions.

I flew up to Sioux Lookout. It’s actually a long way to go from where I live, at the eastern border of Ontario near Quebec, to the western boundary with Manitoba. It’s an hour-and-a-half drive to North Bay, a one-hour flight to Sudbury, then on to Sault St. Marie, Thunder Bay, and Sioux. This trip takes a couple of days, as you have to break the trip in Thunder Bay.

When I got into Sioux, I met Frank at the tribal council office. He said, “We’re going to need money. I can organize the communities. Your job is to manage the white world. Help us get the money, write the proposal, find trainers, write the reports. That way you bring skills from the white world when you come to the Chiefs’ meetings, and you write up the notes based on the spoken words from the Elders. We can do this if we all work together.”

Once I was home, I figured that I’d need to learn some new skills — and quickly. I called up Vic Neufeld and Peter Tugwell, at McMaster. These two teachers from my medical school have remained mentors my whole life.

“How do I get money for a health worker training program up north?” I asked Vic.

“Come on down, visit your in-laws in Ancaster, and spend a few days with us. We’ll get some ideas together.”

I took his advice, and when I arrived, Vic and Peter gave me a book of foundations to look through. Peter suggested that I get a National Health Grant to do a feasibility study while looking for larger sources of funds. Three looked promising: a medical charity run by physicians (PSI); Roncalli, a Roman Catholic foundation; and the Donner Foundation. After two days I had proposals for all three, as well as one for a National Health Grant.

Within a few months, I had heard back from all the agencies, and we had been awarded grants from all of them.

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