Posted: 2006-08-16 20:16
What we do at the Indian Family Centre
A big part of what we do is providing support to people on a daily basis through talking together, working together in a safe environment, having tea or coffee together, visiting with friends and offering assistance with the basics of technology such as how to check e-mail or faxing a document.
One of the highlights of the Indian Family Centre is the joy of working with the children and youth during the summer through the children’s summer program. We provide opportunities for children to experience activities through out the summer months; we were able to go to the zoo, museum, parks and swimming. Currently the summer program is almost coming to an end, we have two weeks left to go and we still need volunteers to help out. If you would like to be a volunteer please let the staff at the Centre know. We would like to thank all of the volunteers who have contributed so far and to thank the many people who have given donations to make the summer program an enjoyable one. Special thanks to Winnipeg harvest for providing the snacks for the children.
The Worship/Sharing Circle is a part of our week where we are able to take the time to sit and share with each other in a safe environment. We honour both Christian and Aboriginal Cultures/Beliefs in our circle. We start our circle at 11:00 am every Thursday morning and we have the doors locked at this time to respect each and every participant in the circle by avoiding interruptions. Our circle follows an agenda where each staff person takes a part in doing
Welcome
Teaching of the smudge
Passing the smudge
Reading from the Bible
Reflecting our thoughts and opinions of the reading
Teaching about sharing together
Sharing
Song
Prayer together
Lords prayer
Sharing in a meal of soup and bannock
After we share our meal together we do a clean up and open the doors and continue on with our work.
Some of the other Celebrations we do are the Quarterly feast celebrating the changing seasons. This is where we are able to share in a meal and celebrate the gift of each of the seasons. These feasts are made possible through volunteers and are done potluck style where everyone brings something to contribute to the feast or volunteer their time. A big event that is done annually is the National Aboriginal Day event that takes place outside IFC and is planned by the Selkirk Avenue National Aboriginal Day Committee (they plan for about 5-6 months on this event) Volunteers are greatly appreciated for this event that takes place on June 21 each year.
So this is a little bit of what we do at the IFC. Please feel free to drop in for tea and if you are ever walking by on a Thursday at 11:00 am don’t be shy about joining us in our weekly worship circle and sharing our famous soup and bannock.
