This weekend in Hay Lakes brought some beautiful sun, saskatoon berries and some good old fashioned prairie fun my way! For Saturday and Sunday, volunteers of the community came together and helped put on prairie fun events at telegraph park. The park was open for visitors to come and either take a walk around the pathways, jump aboard the 'people mover' and tour the whole park, take part in some games & crafts and enjoy a BBQ at lunch time.
For this event I was in charge of leading the activity and craft portion of the day. I spent the day making pinwheels with the kids the showed up. As well I took the first batch of kids on a tour of the park on top of the 'people mover.' The 'people mover' is bascially just a huge wagon pulled by a tractor. I swear that this is the same wagon I rode on for my playschool graduation, and I can't be certain, but am wondering if it wasn't the same gentleman driving it as well.
There are a few great things that came out of this event for me to reflect on. First of all, it is incredible to me how many fantastic things can come together with the help of community volunteers. Second, in all the beautiful places that exist on this planet, you will find it hard to beat the beauty of a tree-lined park with the prairie sun shining down on it, and lastly, if you are looking for delicious saskatoon berries, you should make your way to telegraph park around the end of August and fill your buckets and bellies with some of the plumpest, and sweetest saskatoons that a person could possibly find!
I am so happy that the sun came out for the weekend of fun! It was also great to see all the people who showed up to help make the first ever Prairie Fun days a success. After a weekend of fun in Hay Lakes I am beginning my last week of summer work in the village!
Monday 22 August 2011
Wednesday 10 August 2011
Celebrating Family Literacy & Raspberry Bliss
Like most people I have a list of dream jobs. In the top five of this list is chef and or food critic. I have an insane love for food. A great meal full of bold, exciting flavors is enough to put a smile on my face for weeks. When I come home from a day in the village office or school, whatever it may be, you would most likely find me de-stressing in my kitchen, cooking up my latest must try recipe or improvising with whatever ingredients present themselves to me in my fridge. I was hoping that there would be at least one opportunity this summer to blog about food and today the C.O.W bus rolled into the village and I found my moment.
The Alberta Prairie C.O.W. bus, which stands for Classroom on Wheels is driven across the prairies by Family Literary Facilitators. You can find it in many different communities throughout the year and when the C.O.W. bus is in town it is sure to be a good time. The ladies leading the C.O.W bus come bearing gifts of books to donate to the village library and spend the day outside the library with the bus doors open, ready for all the children in the village to hop and explore all the fun books and games that the bus is stocked with. It is a fantastic program that has alot of benefit for the children of the community and the library.
Now how does the C.O.W bus coming to Hay Lakes relate to having some good eats?! Today the village office was invited to join the Hay Lakes Municipal Library Society and the Family Literacy Faciliators aka the C.O.W. bus ladies to a wonderful luncheon to honor their time in the village. Here's where the food comes in...
The Library staff and board put on a delicious homemade spread for all of us. The lunch included homemade egg salad sandwiches which were the perfect mix of creamy and peppery bite, followed by a beautiful pot of minestrone soup which was packed full of beans, zucchini, carrots, swiss chard and fresh herbs all stewed together by homemade soup stock. The soup was followed by my favorite part of the whole meal. A hot out of the oven, raspberry coffee cake with fresh raspberry syrup made from just picked off the bush berries. I cannot tell you how good this cake was...With a crispy brown sugar crust and a warm, raspberry filled inside, it was all I could do not to take the whole pan back to the office with me. Needless to say, today was a good day to be a rural capacity intern. I got to learn more about the wonderful programs being offered to promote Family Literacy in our rural communities and indulged in not one, but two pieces of total raspberry bliss.
This week I also had the pleasure of meeting a regional intern who is working with the Alberta Municipal Internship program. She divides her time up between 9 different municipalities, Hay Lakes being one of them. We had a chance to talk about the projects I have been apart of this summer in Hay Lakes and all the things she has been working on and will continue to work on for the next year. I took her for a tour around the village showing her the new development, skate park, school, summer in the park crew, library, and fire hall. On our walk we had the chance to talk more about our observations, challenges and experiences from working in rural Alberta. Both having the experience of working in Hay Lakes it was nice to discuss this with someone who has more or less been in your shoes.
The remainder of my time this week has been spent putting together some of my final deliverables as well as getting ready for our big community wrap-up event on Friday. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone and that all the interns and community partners will be meeting again to discuss the results of our summer work. I guess I will see you all Friday and in the meantime, if you have a raspberry bush in your backyard that you keep meaning to pick and just havent found the time, I encourage you to pick those berries and turn them into something delicious. If you don't, I will!
The Alberta Prairie C.O.W. bus, which stands for Classroom on Wheels is driven across the prairies by Family Literary Facilitators. You can find it in many different communities throughout the year and when the C.O.W. bus is in town it is sure to be a good time. The ladies leading the C.O.W bus come bearing gifts of books to donate to the village library and spend the day outside the library with the bus doors open, ready for all the children in the village to hop and explore all the fun books and games that the bus is stocked with. It is a fantastic program that has alot of benefit for the children of the community and the library.
Now how does the C.O.W bus coming to Hay Lakes relate to having some good eats?! Today the village office was invited to join the Hay Lakes Municipal Library Society and the Family Literacy Faciliators aka the C.O.W. bus ladies to a wonderful luncheon to honor their time in the village. Here's where the food comes in...
The Library staff and board put on a delicious homemade spread for all of us. The lunch included homemade egg salad sandwiches which were the perfect mix of creamy and peppery bite, followed by a beautiful pot of minestrone soup which was packed full of beans, zucchini, carrots, swiss chard and fresh herbs all stewed together by homemade soup stock. The soup was followed by my favorite part of the whole meal. A hot out of the oven, raspberry coffee cake with fresh raspberry syrup made from just picked off the bush berries. I cannot tell you how good this cake was...With a crispy brown sugar crust and a warm, raspberry filled inside, it was all I could do not to take the whole pan back to the office with me. Needless to say, today was a good day to be a rural capacity intern. I got to learn more about the wonderful programs being offered to promote Family Literacy in our rural communities and indulged in not one, but two pieces of total raspberry bliss.
This week I also had the pleasure of meeting a regional intern who is working with the Alberta Municipal Internship program. She divides her time up between 9 different municipalities, Hay Lakes being one of them. We had a chance to talk about the projects I have been apart of this summer in Hay Lakes and all the things she has been working on and will continue to work on for the next year. I took her for a tour around the village showing her the new development, skate park, school, summer in the park crew, library, and fire hall. On our walk we had the chance to talk more about our observations, challenges and experiences from working in rural Alberta. Both having the experience of working in Hay Lakes it was nice to discuss this with someone who has more or less been in your shoes.
The remainder of my time this week has been spent putting together some of my final deliverables as well as getting ready for our big community wrap-up event on Friday. I cannot believe how fast the time has gone and that all the interns and community partners will be meeting again to discuss the results of our summer work. I guess I will see you all Friday and in the meantime, if you have a raspberry bush in your backyard that you keep meaning to pick and just havent found the time, I encourage you to pick those berries and turn them into something delicious. If you don't, I will!
Wednesday 27 July 2011
The Smell of a Place
Have any of you ever walked into your Grandma's house and felt instanstly comforted by the smell of her kitchen? Have you ever walked past the ice cream stand and smelt them making homemade waffle cones and felt the urge to indulge in a cool treat? Have you ever gone outside after a long rainstorm (if you are living in Alberta this last month this one will really apply to you) and taken a deep refreshing breath of cool, rain air? If you can relate to any of these things then you will agree with me when I say that the places we love most come with a specific smell, unique and distinctly their own.
Amongst the busyness of life I usually forget to stop and simply smell. I can find myself caught up with what's going on in my own world and forget that there are wonderful, small gifts we are given on a daily basis like smell that remind us we all have stories, histories and memories that are apart of us.
On Monday afternoon I stood up from my desk to take a break from the computer screen and take a stroll outside to catch a fresh breath. As I walked down the sidewalk I was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of summertime in Hay Lakes. It is a beautiful blend of pure prairie air, freshly cut grass and the perfect blend of dusty breeze. It is a smell that took me instantly back to my childhood when I roamed the village streets with my cousins, playing from morning until night, only breaking for the odd ice cream cone and meal. This wonderful smell of summertime reminded me of memories that perhaps I don't often take the time to think about enough anymore. Being in Hay Lakes this summer has offered me many new learning experiences and new insights into complex topics. But, maybe even more important than all of that is it has reminded me that the memories I cherish most about being a child can be called upon in a heartbeat if I simply take a second to smell.
I suppose today I challenge all of you to take the time out of your busy day and indulge your senses with a few familiar smells. You might be surprised by what you discover and pleased with the realization that even though we grow up, move away and change, we can be warmed every now and then by the smells that are linked to our fondest memories.
I am learning that what makes our rural communities so important is not a question that can always be answered by a few well thought out sentences, or even by research, but instead if you are present, can sometimes be found in the prairie air.
Amongst the busyness of life I usually forget to stop and simply smell. I can find myself caught up with what's going on in my own world and forget that there are wonderful, small gifts we are given on a daily basis like smell that remind us we all have stories, histories and memories that are apart of us.
On Monday afternoon I stood up from my desk to take a break from the computer screen and take a stroll outside to catch a fresh breath. As I walked down the sidewalk I was instantly overwhelmed by the smell of summertime in Hay Lakes. It is a beautiful blend of pure prairie air, freshly cut grass and the perfect blend of dusty breeze. It is a smell that took me instantly back to my childhood when I roamed the village streets with my cousins, playing from morning until night, only breaking for the odd ice cream cone and meal. This wonderful smell of summertime reminded me of memories that perhaps I don't often take the time to think about enough anymore. Being in Hay Lakes this summer has offered me many new learning experiences and new insights into complex topics. But, maybe even more important than all of that is it has reminded me that the memories I cherish most about being a child can be called upon in a heartbeat if I simply take a second to smell.
I suppose today I challenge all of you to take the time out of your busy day and indulge your senses with a few familiar smells. You might be surprised by what you discover and pleased with the realization that even though we grow up, move away and change, we can be warmed every now and then by the smells that are linked to our fondest memories.
I am learning that what makes our rural communities so important is not a question that can always be answered by a few well thought out sentences, or even by research, but instead if you are present, can sometimes be found in the prairie air.
Thursday 21 July 2011
Making Sense of Sustainability
I am not sure if all people enjoy life's random happenings, but for me it is the random moments in a day that usually have the most to offer us. It seemed this week I was constantly turning the corner to run into another random adventure. Between a young boy bringing a lost puppy to the village office and then trying to see if it would respond to any of the registered village dog names, to reading a copy of the original Hay Lakes by-law book (which by the way had an original cost of $6.00, and noted that all council meetings shall be held at the village hotel) the week was full of fun adventures in Hay Lakes. Needless to say though the puppy found a good home, and that put me back to work on my sustainability endeavor.
After completing a sustainabilty assessment last week, I knew that this week I had my hands full in taking the data from this assessment and turning it into a report for administration and council. The assessment was part of a tool-kit put out by the AUMA and covered eight broad topic areas. In these topic areas questions were addressed in an attempt to help paint a picture of where your municipality is at with its sustainability initiatives. After finishing the assessment I took the data and coded it in a way that indicated how much of a priority that topic could have (e.g. things that may pose a challenge when assessing sustainability were coded red and things that were going really well in the village and pose no threat to sustainability were coded green and a few in between were coded yellow, which meant they have the potential to pose a problem). Once coded I used the data to generate a report and outlined a brief explanation about why I coded things the way I did.
Now that I have the report almost complete the real question becomes what to do with it, and why does it matter? These are two questions that I have been reflecting on this week. I would be lying if I said I knew the answers to either of them. I believe that there is value in completing the assessment for the village, and if nothing else the report will cross the table at the next council meeting and the councilors will be aware of the information found, and will most likely have a conversation around it. There is a part of me that believes bringing awareness and creating a report that generates conversation around sustainability means that value has been found in this project. Why does it matter? I had a professor tell me once that a mark of a good paper is being able to really find the heart of the topic, and begin to answer the so what? It is great to find the information and present it, but if we aren't able to answer the so what and who cares then perhaps we shouldn't be writing about it in the first place.
I know the obvious reasons as to why assessments and questions around sustainability matter; we want thriving communities and a healthy environment, we want our future generations to know what it is like to be apart of a community and have the ability to enjoy the beautiful world we live in. These are the responses that perhaps are always below the surface. They linger because without them work like this has the potential to lose all meaning. If I look below the obvious reasoning I find a new set of questions being asked around why this matters. Something I am learning is that our rural Albertan communities cannot be understood using the same lens we use to view our urban centers. These communities are not only working with completely different resources and parameters but they are acheiving the same daily tasks that an urban town office would have to, except instead of 25 people on staff they have one or two.
If I look deeper, below the obvious values that perpetuate our pursuit for sustainability, and allow myself to use a different set of lenses, I see that what I thought I 'knew' about sustainability doesn't always apply to rural Alberta. In these smaller communities the pursuit for sustainability can revolve around checking the government mandated boxes, addressing resident concerns on a daily basis, taking on the extra workload during tax season and ensuring that the funding and plans are in place for the maintaince of services in the village. In this sense sustainability revolves more around achieving the tasks needed to ensure the village residents stay happy and the village stays functioning well.
This week has brought new insight to me, and allowed me to explore new questions around sustainability. It has taught me to broaden my scope, and learn the importance of context. What is sustainable for one place doesn't always mean it is the same for another.
After completing a sustainabilty assessment last week, I knew that this week I had my hands full in taking the data from this assessment and turning it into a report for administration and council. The assessment was part of a tool-kit put out by the AUMA and covered eight broad topic areas. In these topic areas questions were addressed in an attempt to help paint a picture of where your municipality is at with its sustainability initiatives. After finishing the assessment I took the data and coded it in a way that indicated how much of a priority that topic could have (e.g. things that may pose a challenge when assessing sustainability were coded red and things that were going really well in the village and pose no threat to sustainability were coded green and a few in between were coded yellow, which meant they have the potential to pose a problem). Once coded I used the data to generate a report and outlined a brief explanation about why I coded things the way I did.
Now that I have the report almost complete the real question becomes what to do with it, and why does it matter? These are two questions that I have been reflecting on this week. I would be lying if I said I knew the answers to either of them. I believe that there is value in completing the assessment for the village, and if nothing else the report will cross the table at the next council meeting and the councilors will be aware of the information found, and will most likely have a conversation around it. There is a part of me that believes bringing awareness and creating a report that generates conversation around sustainability means that value has been found in this project. Why does it matter? I had a professor tell me once that a mark of a good paper is being able to really find the heart of the topic, and begin to answer the so what? It is great to find the information and present it, but if we aren't able to answer the so what and who cares then perhaps we shouldn't be writing about it in the first place.
I know the obvious reasons as to why assessments and questions around sustainability matter; we want thriving communities and a healthy environment, we want our future generations to know what it is like to be apart of a community and have the ability to enjoy the beautiful world we live in. These are the responses that perhaps are always below the surface. They linger because without them work like this has the potential to lose all meaning. If I look below the obvious reasoning I find a new set of questions being asked around why this matters. Something I am learning is that our rural Albertan communities cannot be understood using the same lens we use to view our urban centers. These communities are not only working with completely different resources and parameters but they are acheiving the same daily tasks that an urban town office would have to, except instead of 25 people on staff they have one or two.
If I look deeper, below the obvious values that perpetuate our pursuit for sustainability, and allow myself to use a different set of lenses, I see that what I thought I 'knew' about sustainability doesn't always apply to rural Alberta. In these smaller communities the pursuit for sustainability can revolve around checking the government mandated boxes, addressing resident concerns on a daily basis, taking on the extra workload during tax season and ensuring that the funding and plans are in place for the maintaince of services in the village. In this sense sustainability revolves more around achieving the tasks needed to ensure the village residents stay happy and the village stays functioning well.
This week has brought new insight to me, and allowed me to explore new questions around sustainability. It has taught me to broaden my scope, and learn the importance of context. What is sustainable for one place doesn't always mean it is the same for another.
Thursday 14 July 2011
Hay Lakes Ball Tournament
Although this technically does not have much to do with matters pertaining to rural capacity intern work I thought I should send a special shout out and thanks to the volunteers who made the Hay lakes ball tournament go round this past weekend.
Every year, around this time, the small village of Hay Lakes come alive and welcomes teams from far and wide to enjoy a weekend full of good old fashioned baseball, a few burgers (much thanks to the fire department for heading this up) and in my case a weekend full of family fun. For about 5 years now my family has been bringing our tents and ball gloves out to the village and gathering for some weekend fun together. Although the persistent rain did put a bit of a damper on the weekend the tournament still went on and for this all the individuals who organized the annual event deserve many thanks for continuing to bring such events like this to the village of Hay Lakes.
I left on Sunday feeling a little soggy, and perhaps even a little sore from over-use of ball playing muscles, but more importantly I left feeling thankful for local community members who are always willing to offer up their time and energy to make such a great weekend go round!
Every year, around this time, the small village of Hay Lakes come alive and welcomes teams from far and wide to enjoy a weekend full of good old fashioned baseball, a few burgers (much thanks to the fire department for heading this up) and in my case a weekend full of family fun. For about 5 years now my family has been bringing our tents and ball gloves out to the village and gathering for some weekend fun together. Although the persistent rain did put a bit of a damper on the weekend the tournament still went on and for this all the individuals who organized the annual event deserve many thanks for continuing to bring such events like this to the village of Hay Lakes.
I left on Sunday feeling a little soggy, and perhaps even a little sore from over-use of ball playing muscles, but more importantly I left feeling thankful for local community members who are always willing to offer up their time and energy to make such a great weekend go round!
Monday 11 July 2011
Sustainability Matters & Mid July Wrap Up
The last few weeks have been busy in the bustling village of Hay Lakes. The village office was working overtime to get all the tax assessments out on time, as well we finished our final census summary and submitted it. When I am not helping out around the office doing day to day projects I have been busy researching topics around sustainability.
My research stems from a project that I am working on for the village of Hay Lakes which involves doing a viability assessment on the village and from there, beginning to create a workable action plan that will bring awareness to topics surrounding sustainability. One of the major components of my research is discovering what other municipalities are doing in this area as a way to better direct me towards an effective plan for Hay Lakes. My goal is to create a document that is interactive, and allows for council or administration to check in on village goals, and projects and easily identify success or progress in the way of achieving viability landmarks and goals.
To achieve this I have been reading alot about appreciative inquiry and asset mapping as a way to direct this kind of planning in the village. These strategies suggest that when looking at susatinability planning it is productive to identify the strengths and assets that already exist within a community. It states that instead of focusing on challenges and weaknesses within a community, this kind of framework allows the focus to be positive and begin to generate new kinds of ideas and solutions. Focusing on things that are working and then moving forth and beginning to envision new kinds of understanding and knowledge is the foundation of Appreciative Inquiry. My hope is that this framework will be the base for creating an action plan for the village of Hay Lakes.
Wrap-up....
As of now I have had my hands full in the Village of Hay Lakes conducting a village census, creating new policy documents, working on a safety manual and pitching in with day to day community inquiries and projects. What does the rest of the summer hold for me?! My focus will now go towards researching, working on an assessment and beginning work on a viability action plan. Although there are still alot of unknowns with this project, it really excites me to think of the experience I will acquire working on something like this, and what my work around this topic area will offer the village. Even if what I end up with is just awareness raising in the village then I believe I will have accomplished something.
When I am not working on this I will still have many things to keep me occupied in the village. These things include working on organizing a few events for prairie fun days in August, maybe hanging out with the summer in the park crew who offer summer activities to youth in the village and finishing up any of the loose ends of the documents I was apart of creating / finishing this summer. When I type it out like this, the question is not how will I fill my time this summer, but instead how will I find more time this summer?!
My research stems from a project that I am working on for the village of Hay Lakes which involves doing a viability assessment on the village and from there, beginning to create a workable action plan that will bring awareness to topics surrounding sustainability. One of the major components of my research is discovering what other municipalities are doing in this area as a way to better direct me towards an effective plan for Hay Lakes. My goal is to create a document that is interactive, and allows for council or administration to check in on village goals, and projects and easily identify success or progress in the way of achieving viability landmarks and goals.
To achieve this I have been reading alot about appreciative inquiry and asset mapping as a way to direct this kind of planning in the village. These strategies suggest that when looking at susatinability planning it is productive to identify the strengths and assets that already exist within a community. It states that instead of focusing on challenges and weaknesses within a community, this kind of framework allows the focus to be positive and begin to generate new kinds of ideas and solutions. Focusing on things that are working and then moving forth and beginning to envision new kinds of understanding and knowledge is the foundation of Appreciative Inquiry. My hope is that this framework will be the base for creating an action plan for the village of Hay Lakes.
Wrap-up....
As of now I have had my hands full in the Village of Hay Lakes conducting a village census, creating new policy documents, working on a safety manual and pitching in with day to day community inquiries and projects. What does the rest of the summer hold for me?! My focus will now go towards researching, working on an assessment and beginning work on a viability action plan. Although there are still alot of unknowns with this project, it really excites me to think of the experience I will acquire working on something like this, and what my work around this topic area will offer the village. Even if what I end up with is just awareness raising in the village then I believe I will have accomplished something.
When I am not working on this I will still have many things to keep me occupied in the village. These things include working on organizing a few events for prairie fun days in August, maybe hanging out with the summer in the park crew who offer summer activities to youth in the village and finishing up any of the loose ends of the documents I was apart of creating / finishing this summer. When I type it out like this, the question is not how will I fill my time this summer, but instead how will I find more time this summer?!
Monday 27 June 2011
A Rural Week in Review
Last week was my elected turn to speak at one of the few planned research luncheons. The lunch provided an opportunity for research students and faculty to come together and share what they are up to this summer. I will admit I was expecting a small intimate gathering, but instead found myself in a rather full 'Eppicenter' with fellow peers and professors who came to listen to the research updates from summer students. It was a little intimidating sharing my summer work and research with the room, but when it was all said and done I believe it was well received and turned out to be a good experience for me.
Sharing my experiences at the research lunch made me realize that as a rural capacity intern I have been given a special and unique opportunity that has allowed me to become a part of the village office and ultimately the community of Hay Lakes. I find that with this internship I am not just engaging my research skills but that I get to transcend journal articles and databases and take part in a multitude of different tasks on a daily basis. This is an incredibly valuable learning experience as I am discovering new things about rural Alberta, and specifically Hay Lakes each and everyday.
With less than a handful of houses to gather census information from I can honestly say I am happy that this specific project is coming to an end. When I was first given the task of census collector I thought it was pretty straightforward, but I had no idea how time consuming such a project could be. Ensuring I had hit every home in the village, and then trying to contact those people while they were at home proved to be quite the task.
Last week I spent all day Friday on campus for our intern mid-point check in. This was a great day and was incredibly refreshing to touch base with my fellow interns who are all having similar summer experiences. It allowed for alot of great conversation and further refelction to unfold as well as an opportunity to sit down with our research groups and make our research project a little more clear.
With a few big projects now checked off my summer to-do list I am beginning to focus my energy on my last big project as a rural intern. This project will be to create somewhat of a viablity action plan for the village of Hay Lakes. I find myself lacking a little bit of confidence as I move forward with this project. Not only is creating a document of this nature new to me, which poses a bit of a challenge but I want this to be a useful plan for the village. My success with this depends alot on receving support from council. This project will be a true test of experiential learning, and typical of this style an outcome is impossible to predict
Sharing my experiences at the research lunch made me realize that as a rural capacity intern I have been given a special and unique opportunity that has allowed me to become a part of the village office and ultimately the community of Hay Lakes. I find that with this internship I am not just engaging my research skills but that I get to transcend journal articles and databases and take part in a multitude of different tasks on a daily basis. This is an incredibly valuable learning experience as I am discovering new things about rural Alberta, and specifically Hay Lakes each and everyday.
With less than a handful of houses to gather census information from I can honestly say I am happy that this specific project is coming to an end. When I was first given the task of census collector I thought it was pretty straightforward, but I had no idea how time consuming such a project could be. Ensuring I had hit every home in the village, and then trying to contact those people while they were at home proved to be quite the task.
Last week I spent all day Friday on campus for our intern mid-point check in. This was a great day and was incredibly refreshing to touch base with my fellow interns who are all having similar summer experiences. It allowed for alot of great conversation and further refelction to unfold as well as an opportunity to sit down with our research groups and make our research project a little more clear.
With a few big projects now checked off my summer to-do list I am beginning to focus my energy on my last big project as a rural intern. This project will be to create somewhat of a viablity action plan for the village of Hay Lakes. I find myself lacking a little bit of confidence as I move forward with this project. Not only is creating a document of this nature new to me, which poses a bit of a challenge but I want this to be a useful plan for the village. My success with this depends alot on receving support from council. This project will be a true test of experiential learning, and typical of this style an outcome is impossible to predict
Thursday 16 June 2011
Safety First
A Safety Manual is an important document for a Village. It outlines safety procedures, practices and emergency information that is critical to village operations. As an intern I got the task of taking the existing village safety manual and updating it, as well as creating a digital copy. This week my energy was mainly focused on this task of creating a comprehensive safety manual for the village. My work included creating new safety documents, re-writing safe job procedures and compiling it all in one concise document. I must admit, although this has not been one of my favorite intern tasks thus far, being able to produce a finished product for my supervisor felt really great. Taking on the safety manual was a big job, and I know that for the other two administrators (who work really hard at answering day to day questions, and working on all other village matters) finding the time to sit down and do this task can be nearly impossible.
Another project I am currently working begins by looking at questions of sustainability or viability for a smaller community. I know that in our orientation week we focused alot on identifying issues that rural Albertan communities face. Interestingly enough, in the classroom I felt like responses to these issues were clear and much more tangible. Being present in the community you hear about the issues, and you are able to identify them, but instead of just listing off possible responses or 'solutions' for lack of a better word, I find myself totally stunned. All the dimensions of community sustainability are linked to one another in incredibly complex ways, and in ways that you didn't even know existed before being involved in the community. For me, being in the community, and truly witnessing these intiricate dynamics has been a very valuable learning experience. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that in attempts to create strong and viable communities, focus becomes pinned on long term goals and future aspirations; however the process of striving towards sustainability and the reality of bringing awareness and creating movement around this topic is too of critical importance and should be acknowledged. This brings alot of questions to the surface for me as to what shape this project will take, and in what way I will emabrk upon it.
In other Intern news...I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Prairie Fun Days! Hay Lakes is stop number 8 on the fun days tour. On August 20th and 21st people can either take a day or two and make their way through, visiting all 11 stops of the fun days tour, or swing by the Hay Lakes stop which will take place at Telegraph Park. Throughout the day there will be activities going on at Telegraph park.|You can come and particpate in craft making, take a look around the park and get a feel for what the historical park was like, hunt out some geocaches, or take a look at the solar-powered scout cabin. Also there will be a lunchtime BBQ available as well as refreshments throughout the day! If you can't make prairire fun days, Telegraph park still offers some really great activities, with a stocked trout pond, hiking trails and a beautiful campsite.
Another project I am currently working begins by looking at questions of sustainability or viability for a smaller community. I know that in our orientation week we focused alot on identifying issues that rural Albertan communities face. Interestingly enough, in the classroom I felt like responses to these issues were clear and much more tangible. Being present in the community you hear about the issues, and you are able to identify them, but instead of just listing off possible responses or 'solutions' for lack of a better word, I find myself totally stunned. All the dimensions of community sustainability are linked to one another in incredibly complex ways, and in ways that you didn't even know existed before being involved in the community. For me, being in the community, and truly witnessing these intiricate dynamics has been a very valuable learning experience. It has also opened my eyes to the fact that in attempts to create strong and viable communities, focus becomes pinned on long term goals and future aspirations; however the process of striving towards sustainability and the reality of bringing awareness and creating movement around this topic is too of critical importance and should be acknowledged. This brings alot of questions to the surface for me as to what shape this project will take, and in what way I will emabrk upon it.
In other Intern news...I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Prairie Fun Days! Hay Lakes is stop number 8 on the fun days tour. On August 20th and 21st people can either take a day or two and make their way through, visiting all 11 stops of the fun days tour, or swing by the Hay Lakes stop which will take place at Telegraph Park. Throughout the day there will be activities going on at Telegraph park.|You can come and particpate in craft making, take a look around the park and get a feel for what the historical park was like, hunt out some geocaches, or take a look at the solar-powered scout cabin. Also there will be a lunchtime BBQ available as well as refreshments throughout the day! If you can't make prairire fun days, Telegraph park still offers some really great activities, with a stocked trout pond, hiking trails and a beautiful campsite.
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Thursday 9 June 2011
Sense and Census
"Sense and Census" I realize that this sounds like the next big musical to hit broadway, critics will rave; "Sense and Census follows a 20 something girl through the ups and downs of census collecting in Rural Alberta. Dodging unleashed, untagged dogs, escaping from prairie mosquitos, and talking with residents - there's nothing this intern won't do." Okay, Okay, my broadway dreams could be far-fetched, however I must say my job as village census collector did not come without adventure.
I decided to tackle the census by breaking the village up into a few different sections. I had to ask residents three short questions and then ask them another question regarding how to achieve the future goal of getting paved roads in the village. At the beginning of this week I will have completed three days of census collecting and I believe one more evening route could mark the end of my collection days. This has been an interesting process. It gave me the opportunity to meet some new people, have some great conversation and as mentioned above get my good scare in for the day by dodging the odd dog that takes a run and jump at my clipboard. At first I wasn't sure why me doing a village specific census was necessary, and how it even made sense. However I learned that alot of funding for the village is provided by grant money and many of these grants are provided per capita so it is of critical importance that the village is accurate and up to date on it's population count in order to receive all the funding required.
I have been sitting with a question now for a week or so, and this question is how does an intern know if the projects they are doing make sense for the purposes of not only this internship and our respective partners and bosses, but also for the municipalities we are working with. I have found myself now scanning documents, collecting census information and beginning to look at safety policies and wondered, "does this make sense to be doing this task?" As I was holding this questions I came across a post by a fellow intern and I have to say Thank you now to this intern who addressed a similar topic in a blog post by discussing the needs municipalities have for more hands and bodies to do the work in a municipality. It truly does take alot of work to make the village go round. The village Chief Administrative Officer, fellow admininstration personnel, public works employees, council members and countless volunteers work endlessly to ensure the proper and effective running of the village and by default alot of jobs get pushed to the wayside. There are certain tasks that may not always make sense for all intense purposes of this internship but the important thing is that they make sense for the communities we are working with.
I have learned a valuable lesson in my CSL experience at Augustana and this lesson is that an integral part of the learning experience occurs when there is an equal balance between giving and taking. Approaching my summer work with a sensitivity to this relationship of give and take between the community and myself ensures that the projects I am undertaking are contextually appropriate for the community I am apart of, as well as fitting into the parameters of the internship. This balance is not always easily struck, but approaching it with awareness makes it feel much more tangible.
On another note this week I had a lovely visit from fellow intern Odessa who brought her ideas and camera gear from Camrose to Hay Lakes and we got to shoot some footage of my intern experiences in Hay Lakes. Although much of this involves me working on my computer, she was able to catch me in census collecting action, and as a special treat we got one of the volunteer fire fighters to give us a look into the fire hall that serves the Hay Lakes fire district. I can guarantee Odessa will find a delightful way of making life as intern appeal to many of our senses. In fact, I may even contract her out to begin filming the first installment of "Trials and Tribulations of a Rural Capacity Intern: Census and Sense collecting."
I believe this is all for now, but with the summer now in full swing the blogs are really just beginning.
I decided to tackle the census by breaking the village up into a few different sections. I had to ask residents three short questions and then ask them another question regarding how to achieve the future goal of getting paved roads in the village. At the beginning of this week I will have completed three days of census collecting and I believe one more evening route could mark the end of my collection days. This has been an interesting process. It gave me the opportunity to meet some new people, have some great conversation and as mentioned above get my good scare in for the day by dodging the odd dog that takes a run and jump at my clipboard. At first I wasn't sure why me doing a village specific census was necessary, and how it even made sense. However I learned that alot of funding for the village is provided by grant money and many of these grants are provided per capita so it is of critical importance that the village is accurate and up to date on it's population count in order to receive all the funding required.
I have been sitting with a question now for a week or so, and this question is how does an intern know if the projects they are doing make sense for the purposes of not only this internship and our respective partners and bosses, but also for the municipalities we are working with. I have found myself now scanning documents, collecting census information and beginning to look at safety policies and wondered, "does this make sense to be doing this task?" As I was holding this questions I came across a post by a fellow intern and I have to say Thank you now to this intern who addressed a similar topic in a blog post by discussing the needs municipalities have for more hands and bodies to do the work in a municipality. It truly does take alot of work to make the village go round. The village Chief Administrative Officer, fellow admininstration personnel, public works employees, council members and countless volunteers work endlessly to ensure the proper and effective running of the village and by default alot of jobs get pushed to the wayside. There are certain tasks that may not always make sense for all intense purposes of this internship but the important thing is that they make sense for the communities we are working with.
I have learned a valuable lesson in my CSL experience at Augustana and this lesson is that an integral part of the learning experience occurs when there is an equal balance between giving and taking. Approaching my summer work with a sensitivity to this relationship of give and take between the community and myself ensures that the projects I am undertaking are contextually appropriate for the community I am apart of, as well as fitting into the parameters of the internship. This balance is not always easily struck, but approaching it with awareness makes it feel much more tangible.
On another note this week I had a lovely visit from fellow intern Odessa who brought her ideas and camera gear from Camrose to Hay Lakes and we got to shoot some footage of my intern experiences in Hay Lakes. Although much of this involves me working on my computer, she was able to catch me in census collecting action, and as a special treat we got one of the volunteer fire fighters to give us a look into the fire hall that serves the Hay Lakes fire district. I can guarantee Odessa will find a delightful way of making life as intern appeal to many of our senses. In fact, I may even contract her out to begin filming the first installment of "Trials and Tribulations of a Rural Capacity Intern: Census and Sense collecting."
I believe this is all for now, but with the summer now in full swing the blogs are really just beginning.
Friday 27 May 2011
Short Week - Long List
After a long weekend, I started my short week of work in Hay Lakes feeling re-energized. This was a good thing, as I sat down to write out my summer work plan for the Village I was realizing how ambitious this list of mine was beginning to look. Through my Community Service Learning experience at Augustana I have learned an important skill in understanding that every new job, placement or project has its own limitations. Usually these limitations are based on time - we simply never have enough of it, so it is important to set realistic deliverables that truly match the time parameters you are working with. I am trying to keep this in mind as I organize my summer to-do list, and in this moment, not sure what projects I am willing to say no to yet.
This week I worked on beginning to compile a first draft of a level of service document for the Village. This document, when finished will outline all the services the village offers to its residents as well as act as a guide for village employees as to how certain services should be executed, and what is expected from the village employee and the resident in certain situations. Ultimately, this document will be a guide for community members, council, administration and public works employees to reference so everyone is working off the same guiding principles in providing services to the village. I am referencing other service level documents from surrounding communities and talking with village employees in how this can be tailored to be a Hay Lakes specific document.
I also started researching how to conduct a municipal census. Next week I will be hitting the pavement (or gravel) and conducting an 'official' census for the Village. I think it will be really interesting getting to knock on doors and introduce myself, and I am also a littler nervous, as this is brand new to me, and you never know what to expect when knocking on doors. I am putting together a letter of introduction to hand out to community members to bring along with me on my data collection days, as well I may make myself an official, 'village census collector' pin (if interested in having a pin of your own made, please contact my blog site and I can get back to you about the low low cost of tailored made pins)
This week has felt full in the sense that I truly laid out the scope of work I am going to be embarking upon for the summer. I am aware that as I continue to go forward with work this summer, new projects that I had not even accounted for will most likely come forward, and things I believed to 'know for sure' will be revealed in a whole new light. This is most definitely part of the excitement of being a summer intern.
This week I worked on beginning to compile a first draft of a level of service document for the Village. This document, when finished will outline all the services the village offers to its residents as well as act as a guide for village employees as to how certain services should be executed, and what is expected from the village employee and the resident in certain situations. Ultimately, this document will be a guide for community members, council, administration and public works employees to reference so everyone is working off the same guiding principles in providing services to the village. I am referencing other service level documents from surrounding communities and talking with village employees in how this can be tailored to be a Hay Lakes specific document.
I also started researching how to conduct a municipal census. Next week I will be hitting the pavement (or gravel) and conducting an 'official' census for the Village. I think it will be really interesting getting to knock on doors and introduce myself, and I am also a littler nervous, as this is brand new to me, and you never know what to expect when knocking on doors. I am putting together a letter of introduction to hand out to community members to bring along with me on my data collection days, as well I may make myself an official, 'village census collector' pin (if interested in having a pin of your own made, please contact my blog site and I can get back to you about the low low cost of tailored made pins)
This week has felt full in the sense that I truly laid out the scope of work I am going to be embarking upon for the summer. I am aware that as I continue to go forward with work this summer, new projects that I had not even accounted for will most likely come forward, and things I believed to 'know for sure' will be revealed in a whole new light. This is most definitely part of the excitement of being a summer intern.
Friday 20 May 2011
Settling Back into my Roots
There are a few things I have learned in my first week of work in the village of Hay Lakes. First, I think there is a saying that goes it takes a village to raise a child, well this is like that, except that instead of it being a child, or a village raising the child, it is that it takes a team to run a village.This team is comprised of community members, volunteers, village council, public works and administrative personnel. Without one of these very important team members the success of a village would be hindered. Second, people make a village, but municipal policy and procedures is what makes a village go round. Policy is critical to how everything happens in the village from snow removal to sidewalk inspection, to budget allocations and the planning and implementation of new developments. It is these policies that build a foundation for a strong, viable municipality. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, no matter how long you have been away from a small community it doesnt take much to make you feel like you've never truly left, with one of my co-workers telling me stories of my growing up years in Hay Lakes and believe it or not after 18 years of not living in Hay Lakes still remembering my birthday, it was warming to be reminded of my roots in the village of Hay Lakes.
With stories of what it was like the years my dad was on village council, and reading the policies from years and years ago that list my old next door neighbour as the go to guy for village snow inquiries, I feel honored to be back in Hay Lakes to discover more about what truly makes this village go round, as well as making a small difference towards creating a stronger, sustainable community. It's not everyday that you find people who can recall the day you were born, or have an old neighbour come in to pay a water bill and recall the summers she spent babysitting you.
My first week as intern in Hay Lakes was about settling into the village office, setting up my summer work station, re-acquainting myself with some old neighbours and beginning to learn more about all the projects I will be apart of this summer.
With stories of what it was like the years my dad was on village council, and reading the policies from years and years ago that list my old next door neighbour as the go to guy for village snow inquiries, I feel honored to be back in Hay Lakes to discover more about what truly makes this village go round, as well as making a small difference towards creating a stronger, sustainable community. It's not everyday that you find people who can recall the day you were born, or have an old neighbour come in to pay a water bill and recall the summers she spent babysitting you.
My first week as intern in Hay Lakes was about settling into the village office, setting up my summer work station, re-acquainting myself with some old neighbours and beginning to learn more about all the projects I will be apart of this summer.
Monday 9 May 2011
Rural Capacity Internship: An Introduction
The Rural Capacity Internship is an opportunity for University of Alberta students to begin to explore and make meaningful connections between the university and rural communities. As students we have been given community placements all over Alberta. We will be facing new and exciting challenges in our host communities and have the opportunity to work with university faculty in researching programs and projects that promote rural capacity and sustainability.
Lucky enough to be chosen as a summer intern I have been assigned to the host community of Hay Lakes, Alberta. Hay Lakes is a village located about 30 kilometers north of the city of Camrose and has a population that as of the 2008 census is at 429 citizens. I have lived in Camrose for the majority of my life, however part of who I am is rooted in this small village just off of Highway 21. My grandparents spent most of their lives working a farm just outside of Hay Lakes and thus formed strong ties to the village of Hay Lakes. Just as my own dad did, I spent the first part of my life playing in the prairie sun and it is these first few memories of mine that have me looking forward to my rural capacity internship experience.
I am excited to be returning to Hay Lakes with an opportunity to work in partnership with the community and the University of Alberta. I am not sure what the summer will hold yet, but I am certain that it will be filled with new learning experiences, exciting challenges, and alot of new adventures.
Stay tuned to follow me on my summer of rural adventures in Hay Lakes...
Lucky enough to be chosen as a summer intern I have been assigned to the host community of Hay Lakes, Alberta. Hay Lakes is a village located about 30 kilometers north of the city of Camrose and has a population that as of the 2008 census is at 429 citizens. I have lived in Camrose for the majority of my life, however part of who I am is rooted in this small village just off of Highway 21. My grandparents spent most of their lives working a farm just outside of Hay Lakes and thus formed strong ties to the village of Hay Lakes. Just as my own dad did, I spent the first part of my life playing in the prairie sun and it is these first few memories of mine that have me looking forward to my rural capacity internship experience.
I am excited to be returning to Hay Lakes with an opportunity to work in partnership with the community and the University of Alberta. I am not sure what the summer will hold yet, but I am certain that it will be filled with new learning experiences, exciting challenges, and alot of new adventures.
Stay tuned to follow me on my summer of rural adventures in Hay Lakes...
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