Northern communities seek help for clean water, housing
WINNIPEG, MB—There are plenty of opportunities for people to help alleviate poor living conditions in northern Manitoba communities that include a lack of clean water.
That was the message elder Ed Wood from the Island Lake Tribal Council delivered about the water situation in the Island Lake communities during a presentation at Elmwood Mennonite Brethren Church organized by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba at the end of March.
"God is at work in our communities, and we know that He can do things even without our help," Wood said. "But He has given us the opportunity today to help not because He needs us, but for our own benefit. The opportunities are there and we need to look around, find them and listen to God as He directs our lives."
MCC Manitoba has been involved since January 2011, after a series of articles in the Winnipeg Free Press shed light on the terrible living conditions in a number of northern communities that lack running water.
This past November, a branch of the federal government called the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Department Canada announced funding of $5.5 million to retrofit 100 homes with proper water and sewage access as a partial remedy.
Wood said the immediate need for help is constructing those retrofits. The AANDC has pledged to work with the communities in a cooperative arrangement with other sources. The provincial government is seeking to assist as well, and so are First Nations governments. First Nations members will also contribute as much sweat equity as possible.
Wood added that more help is needed, though, so the communities are seeking help from non-governmental organizations, the corporate community and private citizens.
"Each partner, whoever they might be, will participate in a way that is best suited to them," Wood said. "We know that we cannot dictate to a person who is coming to help us, 'You must do it this way.' There are so many needs that the person will know how he or she can best help in our communities."
A steering committee that includes Island Lake Tribal Council members and AANDC employees was established in November 2011 to work on a long-term plan to address housing, water and sewer needs in the north. The committee has met three times since its formation, and its first priority is to examine how existing homes can be upgraded to acceptable standards.
The communities where the homes are located are the Island Lake First Nations of Garden Hill, Red Sucker Lake, St. Theresa Point, and Wasagamack. Over 7,600 people live in the communities, which are located relatively close to each other more than 475 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
There are 1,467 housing units, at least 950 of which need to be retrofitted. The cost to retrofit one home is roughly $15,000.
Norman Meade, who works with MCC Manitoba's Aboriginal Neighbours program, says that MCC Manitoba's role thus far has been mostly investigative. The NGO is keeping in touch with the Island Lake Tribal Council and helping where it can.
Meade anticipates that MCC Manitoba will do some fundraising to help retrofit homes, as well as to help the communities in finding tradespeople willing to volunteer their time and retrofit the homes when needed.
"When you build relationships with people from other cultures and backgrounds and situations, a willingness to be involved is really so important," Meade told ChristianWeek.
Meade was part of a MCC delegation that visited the communities in March 2011 that also included Deborah Martin Koop, MCC Manitoba programs director, and Dan Klassen, chair of the Manitoba Mennonite Disaster Service unit.
"People [are] living in conditions that aren't acceptable," Martin Koop said.
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