RotaryHIP is a great connector! John Lomax connected Jim and Marjorie Dawson of District 7090 with Joseph Sagaj, the Anishinaabeg artist who had some art supplies and wanted to donate them to a first nation community. Jim and Marjorie drove the materials up to Red lake (a 24hr drive!) And with some delay due to Covid the materials were delivered this fall to EBS School in Pikangikum FN. Some of the materials were destined for young high school artist Amberlee King, who is struggling with the loss of her dad, the rest of the materials for the art program.
Recently Amberlee was asked to paint a mural for the Project Journey classroom.
Amberlee posted: 11 days ago I was asked if I could do a painting on a wall for Narcisse and I said okay right away! I hope to do more big murals!! This is going to be my history too MAYBE. There were many times where I wanted to breakdown because I thought about my dad. Like how would he react if I told him I’d be painting on the school’s wall. I kept thinking about ways of telling him when he’s not even here for that.
Here is what teacher Narcisse Kakegabon posted on facebook:
Amberlee did a great job painting in what I'm going to be teaching throughout the year.
It's how the elders created a foundation for Pikangikum and how they developed it. Each student will have an opportunity to place their hand on the tree and think about how could they continue to make Pikangikum, their community, a healthy place to live and learn.
Building connections, community and working together- this is what RotaryHIP is all about!
