Exchange students from northern Quebec spent the last week with Centre Wellington District High School students.
From May 18 to 25 students from Sautjuit School in Kangirsuk and Tarsakallak School in Aupaluk came to Fergus on the second half of an exchange program organized by Centre Wellington teachers Jack Frimeth and Pamela Brown-Wass.
Because neither of the two schools in the Inuit territory of Nunavik, Quebec had enough students to participate – there are about 400 people in Kangirsuk and 150 in Aupaluk – the two communities partnered to make the exchange possible.
“We had a really great time when they were in Kangirsuk,” said Sautjuit teacher Arnaud Janvier.
“It’s really cool to do the second part of it and be here with the students, enjoy some warm weather because … it’s like zero degrees right now, even on May 19, so we’re still using snowmobiles up there.”
The first activity for the Quebec students was to help sort food at the Centre Wellington Food Bank on May 19.
During the visit the Quebec and Fergus students were also having barbecues, going to Niagara Falls, spending a day in Toronto and hosting presentations.
However, Frimeth said he thinks the exchange was more educational for the Fergus students who went up north than it is for the Inuit students who came south.
“They see our world every day,” Frimeth said.
“From the second they know how to handle a computer or a lap, they’re watching movies … Our kids to go up there to see a community of 400 people, a water truck that comes around … (they) run out of water every night.
“You can’t take a shower, we couldn’t wash dishes … I think for our kids it’s a much bigger jump and education.
“I think for our kids it’s a real eye opener in terms of what else and what other people are doing.”
This is the sixth indigenous exchange Centre Wellington District High School has hosted. Each trip is to a new community.
Centre Wellington students visited Kangirsuk and Aupaluk from March 9 to 17.
The exchanges are run through SEVEC (Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada) and is funded through Heritage Canada.
For more information visit www.ugdsb.ca/cwdhs-indigenous-exchange.
