Minshtuk

“Minshtuk” means “Island” in Cree. We chose this word because we spent a part of the week on the beautiful island of Fort George for the Mamoweedow.

This week we had the chance to participate in multidisciplinary team meetings with the occupational therapist and pediatrician to share conclusions and recommendations. The goal of the meetings was to formulate global conclusions and recommendations for the children we assessed. The pediatrician on the team was in Whapmagoostui to assess the children and meet with the parents so we met with her through videoconference. We had most of our meetings in the videoconference room at the hospital and on one occasion in the surgery room!

Last week, we learned the word “tihkaayaau”, which means “cold”. Unfortunately, we’ve had many opportunities to use it this week including inside the MSDC (more specifically in the conference room where we work most of the time)! We haven’t yet figured out how to control the air conditioning…

The weather warmed up just in time for our work day at the mamoweedow! We participated in the “Eeyou healthy walk”, an event organized by the Cree Health Board to promote physical activity and healthy life habits. The professionals from the rehab team (physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology), the nutritionist, and community health representatives were all present to walk with people from the community.

Reggie Tomatuk from the Cree Health Board was part of the organization team for the event, and built the michuap

The walk started and ended at the Cree Health Board michuap. The nutritionist prepared healthy snacks and boxes of healthy food choices to give out as prizes, med students took blood pressure readings, and we gave out Cree children’s books to children and parents.

Audrée (the nutritionist) making raisin bannock to share

We also had a bit of time off in our work afternoon to visit some of the michuaps and taste some traditional food!

William Tapiatic preparing bear meat in the Elders’ michuap to share with the community

We also had the chance to go back to the mamoweedow during the weekend. We had time for more dancing, games and feasts with our friends (and adoptive family) the Stewarts!

The weather cleared up just in time for us to see a beautiful sunset on the island. It felt like a little vacation and we are feeling recharged for the week ahead.