YMCA Exchange: Inukjuak students coming to Dresden

During the first week of April, fifteen LKCS students had the experience of a lifetime.

The students, accompanied by teachers Carole Scott and Nicole Martin and parent Jim Konecny, journeyed to Inukjuak, a remote Inuit Community in Northern Quebec.

The “Dresden-muit” (Inuktitut for those from Dresden) have been meeting and fundraising for many months to prepare for this experience.

The students were each twinned with a student from the Innalik school.

While in Inukjuak, students learned about the Inuit culture from the elders of the community.

The girls learned how to prepare suvalik, a mixture of fish eggs, oil and fruit, and bannock, while the boys learned how to build fishing poles.

The fishing poles were used the next day for ice fishing on Hudson Bay.

The students were taught how to build an igloo, the basics of the Inuktitut language and some of the games that the community members play.

They also went dog sledding and tobogganing.

While there, the students and their twins ran a carnival for the children of the community and raised $649, which will be donated to another northern community that lost its school in a fire.

On May 7th, the Inukjuak students will arrive in Dresden.

During that week, they will travel to Point Pelee and Niagara Falls.

The LKCS students will also be taking their twins horseback riding, swimming and bowling, as well as touring Uncle Tom’s Cabin and RM Classic Cars.

These activities would not have been possible without the generous support of local businesses, clubs and community members.

Many new friendships were made during the Inukjuak part of the exchange and students in both provinces are excited to see each other again.