Katimavik Lending a Hand in Rigolet

Katimavik has been very busy in the community of Rigolet lending a hand wherever it is needed.

Katimavik sends youth volunteers around the country to help within various communities.

At the same time they are given the opportunity to learn about different cultures.

Kelsey Tonner is the Project Leader with Katimavik in Rigolet.

He says they have been active in the community since August.

This is the first time that a group from Katimavik has been stationed in the community.

Since that time, six different groups of volunteers from across Canada have rotated through the community.

Five new volunteers arrived on the Northern Ranger last week.

Tonner says they have been lending a hand to various non-profit groups and local government.

For example, they have been busy this summer painting the church and doing some landscaping around the property.

They’ve also been volunteering at the local safe house and paying visits to community elders.

Tonner says the volunteers have been setting up community gardens and just recently cleaned up the community boardwalk.

Right now they are busy preparing for the upcoming Salmon Festival.

He says the volunteers have also been learning a lot from the community as well.

They have been learning about the Inuit culture through going off on the land and learning the ways of the people through cultural activities.

Community residents have been inviting the volunteers to join them on fishing trips and visits to the cabin.

Charlotte Wolfrey, the AngajuKak for the Rigolet Inuit Community Government, says it has been a joy having the Katimavik volunteers in the community.

Wolfrey says that it is a feeling shared by the community.

She says apart from the extraordinary help they’ve been providing in the community, they have also been making life-long friendships with the residents.