Moving Together to Have the Stories of the Inuit Heard

When you want to understand people, the best way to do it is to ask for their stories. When ordinary people can find safe places where they can tell their own stories, they want to know that their voices are heard. My walk of 8000 kilometers across Canada is a wonderful tool for CONNECTION. It is also about connecting people. Events happen. I meet many new people and we share.

A need to focus on girls’ voices, concerns and realities

Violence is a reality for many girls in Canada. There is a need to focus on girls’ voices, concerns, and realities. Physical abuse against children is rarely publicized since they do not have a VOICE.

For example, when an Inuit girl child showed me the marks of physical abuse, I was told not to vent it out it, otherwise, her family would know we were after them and might beat her worse. For men, it is often their inability to provide their families with basic needs and their demands for certain foods, clothes, etc. For women, it is the burden of responsibilities at home and the lack of space and support.

My knowledge keeps me on the path

As you can tell, I will never be Inuit. But when I worked among them, I learned a lot from them.

Unfortunately, in line of my work in protection, I was confronted with a structure that had too much red tape bringing with it many walls for the Inuit women and so much oversight that women did not get the benefits of justice.