JamesB's blog

Booshoo SEVENation!!!

I hope everybody is doing well despite the crazy summer we had with the
forest fires that literally sparked a major concern for almost every
community including mine. Other then that, I hope everybody had a great
summer and a tremendous one. As the summer draws close to an end, a new
school year is upon us and I hope every one of you have a blast as you
begin this exciting journey toward bettering your tomorrow.

SEVEN would like to remind you returning students to please, PLEASE
help the newcomers out in any way you can. For those schooling at an
urban centre such as Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie or Winnipeg, help
them find their way with the city buses, or hang out with them by going
to the movies or even an after school game of bowling or shopping! Back
in my day, my friends and I would welcome the new students and take them
out to wherever we were going. We’d show them the main points of the
city such as the shopping centres, theaters, bus stops, etc. It took
awhile for them to get used to it but eventually once they knew their
way around the city, they’d tell us they would be okay.

Stuff like this we encourage you to do too. As new students it may be
very difficult to adjust to your new surroundings such as your boarding
home and the place of location where you’re at. If you’re feeling
like there is nobody around, ask your boarding parent or school
councilor to get involved in an after-school activity or if you think
you can do it, seek a part time job. A lot of places such as the fast
food chains always encourage students to apply. In most cases, the
schools have a daily activity sheet where you can just go and sign up to
whatever activity you wish to join.

It has been awhile since I posted a blog here on SEVEN. Much has been happening for instance, my MAC computer crashed right to the core where it just won't start and to make matters worse, being "stuck" in the rez it's quite hard to send my computer out for repairs. This is also causing a lot of back-work for me in the projects I am supposed to be working on for SEVEN. Our radio show is this week and my radio project was also involved in the "crash" which resulted in me not submitting anything. =(

Second, work has taken me away from my duties at SEVEN but tonight I have actually been able to work on this blog to keep this site more updated and to let you all know what I am up to. I am sure many of the other SEVEN YAC members would say the same.

Life has been grand. Despite some off-sets in my own personal life, all I can say is it's a miracle to see a brand new day each n every time I wake up from my sleep. My grandmother would always say in her native language, "No matter what situation you face, go thru it knowing at the end there is a light that will take you thru" Wise words from a woman who was fierce in her own way and loving in so many ways. If you have been going through a difficult time, remember there is a light at the end of every trouble. Yes we too have faced many problems but it never stopped us. In fact, it builds us to be a better person. We may not be perfect but it teaches us a lesson of being humble and greatful for who we are and for where we are in life. Yes, our problems and troubles have a meaning... behind it has its purpose...

Search efforts to find Webeque youth Jordan Wabasse have been unsuccessful and we, at SEVEN Youth Media Network need your help in locating the 16 year old. Wabasse was last seen on February 7, 2011 and is 6’1” tall and has dark hair. The effort to find Jordan has continued to grow over the week, as friends and family working with the Thunder Bay police search for the missing teen.

For full news link on the missing teen please go to this website: http://netnewsledger.com/?p=5756.

We are also asking you to please keep the family in your prayers and thoughts as it is very much needed during this difficult time. If you also wish to leave a message to the family, please do so by leaving a comment below.

Happy New Year from the SEVEN Youth Advisory Committee!

2011 has a lot in store for us. So and so are the many surprises that hold and the mysteries that have yet to be revealed. We hope and pray that this year brings many of you into another realm of success and accomplishments in life. Not to mention we hope that this year brings you closer to living your dreams. Let’s not forget to not hold on to grudges or hate against another person. Let’s learn to walk in love and surpass the negativity feelings against those who have wronged us.

You see life is too short to hate anybody. Who knows, the people we hate may just be the friends we’ll need when crisis hits our lives. Let’s learn to walk in purity, respect one another. Let’s fight for what is right and care for all. What was done in the past, let's learn to forgive and move forward in life. Starting now let’s set an example of what we, as the SEVEN Youth are all about. Let’s do it. I know we can. I believe in you.

As many of you may or may not know that on Friday (Jan 14) up until the 17, there is going to be a radiothon in support of the SEVEN Youth Media Network and the Mikinakoos assessment and treatment unit, which is run by SLFNHA. We need your help in either two ways: to donate financially and or by supporting the radio show by calling in to request a song or submit in your stories or whatever. The platform is yours.

In mid-September my family received some shocking and disturbing news. At first we didn't believe it. But as the hours passed, the news finally sank in. My cousin Keegan was fatally stabbed during a feud between him and another family member. My heart sank in deep thoughts. Questions surrounding this unwelcoming news became like a movie played out in real life. As news spread through the Internet through Facebook and Myknet, people began asking questions that seemed almost too impossible to answer.

I ignored them for the time being, only because I didn't know how to respond. When the body of my late cousin came home a week after this ordeal started, the tears began to flood like rain in mid summer. Memories of our childhood replayed in my mind and the times we fought and the times we forgave each other played in my head over and over. Before his sudden death, he phoned me asking how things were going. He asked how life was and if everything was okay. We talked for a bit until he had to go as his phone card was running low on minutes. He said he'd call back but instead of him calling back, I would only see him laying lifeless inside a stainless steel casket.

How I wish this never happened. As the days passed, and my family got together, my cousin's grandmother (on his mom's side) sat us down on the floor and told us, "I want you young people to forgive each other no matter what situation you are in," she told us.

So yesterday I was asked to look after my cousin's two children Hunter and Paya. Both of whom are under 4. At first, the thought of me keeping these two active kids would be easy. Boy was I wrong.

When I went to their home, I knew I was in for a special treat. Hunter, who has a speech impediment, began giving me a hint that my day with them was going to be an interesting one. Sure enough, one by one he and his sister began screaming, yelling and laughing as I chased after them. Hunter, would baby talk with her baby sister who is only 2 (perhaps planning their attack) would tell her to go to the room n throw toys into the freezer. While I was in the room taking out the toys out of the freezer, Hunter would get a chair and climb up to the cupboards yelling, "Apple sauce" LOL. As I took him down from the counter, he would grab my legs and wait for me to start walking.

I tried to best keep my cool by lowering my voice to the point I had to finally put one of them to bed. Although she cried, I laid on the bed with her and read her a story about Na-na-bush, an old legend our teacher used to read to us when it would be thundering. (I am not sure if this was a good nap time story but I did anyway LOL).

Back to Hunter, while her sister was asleep, he began throwing his toys at me, and yelling "apple sauce, apple sauce" finally he got to a bag of chips and sat in front of the tv all happy and quiet. I decided to do some home schooling with him and taught him how to count by using his fingers, toes and body parts. As He counted, my mind went back to the time I too was a child. I could remember giving my babysitters a hard time to the point they would throw us in the room until we were sound asleep.

In the battle of the mind, there is always two sides. There is the good side and the bad side.
The good side will always stick to the positive while the bad side sticks to the negative. As with everybody, I too deal with my inner demons - often times I want to let it overtake me but when I look at in another angle of the situation, I see that if it does, then my gifts and dreams will perish and die.

Recently, I had to tackle with a very tough decision that involved my position at SEVEN. I had feelings of defeat, hopelessness and a bit of depression as I thought of what the outcome would be if I do let this go. Then I took another angle of it, If I do stay, maybe this feeling will make me a stronger and more courages person. I took the time to consult with a friend of mine who told me one thing I always say to him too, that is "follow your heart". I felt like I was in a crossroads between good and bad. Finally. My decision was to stay with SEVEN until it is actually time for me to go.

I am here not for myself but for others. I desire to help my fellow young people who help them walk in the positive side of life. I desire to see them succeed and overcome their struggles in life. Decisions in life often times come with a price. It's that price that proves that what we do hows that we are doing something right. I am proud to be involved with SEVEN. The work we do, the things we do behind closed doors are only small things yet we believe will grow bigger in the long run.

Hey guys! I hope everybody is doing great.
Going on from last week’s blog, I discussed our recent decision to relocate to the city of Toronto. It took a lot of pre-planning and a whole lot of “inner-battles” with everything happening. I seriously tell you if you want to move to a city like Toronto, be ready for the unexpected.

In the last blog, I also mentioned about parents. We talked about it with them and consequently, they didn’t say much about it except that they would try to help us out wherever needed. Now that we got that out of the way, we have been apartment hunting. I prefer the North York area simply because I’m used to this area. We, meaning Kerina and myself, have found a place ready. The guy renting this place to us says it is entirely up to us if we want his furniture in there or if we want to use our own. Of course, we both decided to have him keep his stuff there. The guy agreed.

Our next step before this final move is to allocate some funds. This move will require a lot of money… (yikes!!!). I am happy overall that things are going smooth then expected. We thought we’d hit some rocks but we haven’t hit ‘em yet. Again our decision to do this massive shift has received a lot of feed back from many people. We have been called nuts, crazy, awesome, super-cool, wickedly insane and so forth. We take them all as compliments. Nothing offensive. We want to prove a point to our readers that if you want to set your mind on something, then you can do it. This is our case. With some on going research, I think this will be an interesting journey.

Changes. It’s something everybody is afraid of sometimes.
Most times, change brings an uncertainty of what is to come. Change also brings a life full of different dramatic experiences. Change can be used in two terms: good or bad. In this case, good!

Change happens to everybody; some change their lifestyles, some change their habits. Then there are those who change cities to have new jobs or live in a different town to experience something different. Some leave for educational purposes and health reasons. Change is something we all need sooner or later. As writers and members of SEVEN Youth Media, we have seen a lot of changes happening in our own personal lives. We have seen changes in our lifestyles, changes in our communication and outlook of how we see things.

Being based respectfully in our communities, Kerina (based out of Webeque) and myself (based in Weagamow) talked hours in terms of moving away from our community for a while. We talked for days and shared our own experiences as to why we would do such a thing. One thing led to another, another led to another. We talked to our friends about it and they were rather happy rather then being sad.

Hey people, guess it’s time to write another blog.

I have been keeping busy trying to keep myself occupied with work, school and of course with SEVEN. I have to admit, it is not always easy when you have to meet with deadlines for any of the three. But what can I say about that? I love it. I love life. I love every minute of it. Although stressing but the rewards of it at the end is quite remarkable.

So this morning (March 11) I finally got a package that I have been waiting for since almost two weeks. I had told Joyce to send me up some recent and past issues of SEVEN which I have to send out to some communities in northern Manitoba. By word of mouth, they had requested some copies to see what we’ve been up to and what our team has been doing to keep you, the reader, focused on today’s youth matters.

I spoke with one teacher from the St. Theresa’s Point First Nation and she told me how youth in her community need something like this, to read stories of other young people who are making a huge difference in their communities. She shared her desires about how she wants to see the youth change. Of course, like many of our communities, her community has been hit hard with a high rate of drug use and abuse.

Her goals and ambitions are to get SEVEN there and perhaps plant a positive mindset to those who really need it. That’s SEVEN!

It is always an honor to hear what SEVEN is doing in terms of bettering the lives of our young people no matter where they are from. That’s our goal, our hope.

We’re proud of the work we do and we’ll always strive to change the negative to positive. That’s SEVEN for you! *Applause*. Until then, I remain.