Climbing Empowerment Program for Youth in Iqaluit, NU.
Ever since I first felt the healing benefits of climbing, I began dreaming of offering a summer climbing program for youth in Iqaluit. The climbing empowerment program would aim to help youth generate positive self-images and increased self-confidence by encouraging youth to develop and practice sober self-care routines.
We’re on a Mission.
More safe and productive opportunities need to be offered within Iqaluit to support Nunavummiut youth’s personal health. Nunavut is a place full of resiliency and opportunity, but many youth are not given the opportunity to work with their personal health and wellbeing. Natural Highs would be serving the community's need for increased support of youth’s mental, physical, and emotional health.
The vision for Natural Highs Iqaluit is to support youth in Iqaluit by offering healthy alternatives to drugs and alcohol. The Natural Highs climbing empowerment program was developed through Kara’s undergraduate thesis project which synthesized rock climbing, nature connection, mindfulness practices, addictions research, and decolonizing methodologies. Not only is rock climbing scientifically proven to positively impact depression and anxiety, but it also promotes physical health, teamwork, and joy. Additionally, rock climbing neurologically provides similar sensations that people seek when using drugs. The rest of this program’s daily routine is set up to be an offering of self-care practices that youth could implement in their daily lives. The program will offer brain chemistry education, mindfulness training, tools for self-regulation & how to consciously work with emotions, harm reduction strategies, and explicitly encourage nature connection “sit spots” and ecological stewardship. To learn more about the summer climbing empowerment program’s daily schedule click here.
Kara piloted the Natural Highs curriculum with groups of youth and adults throughout the year 2022 and received very positive feedback from participants! We are now working with a small group of community members to continue to work with the proper networks to gain permission to run this camp!
Fostering Resiliency.
Iqaluit, Nunavut is a community located on Baffin Island with a population of 9,000 people. Iqaluit means “Place of Many Fish” and Nunavut means “Our Land” in Inuktut. Inuit have been occupying Nunavut for over 4,000 years.
Due to the devastating impacts of euro-colonial assimilation tactics during the 1900s, Nunavut is experiencing many social epidemics, such as a housing crisis, mental health and suicide crisis, public health crisis, and extreme child poverty. Youth who live in poverty, experience persistent family struggles or intergenerational trauma, have poor parental supervision, or struggle with mental health are more likely to become addicted to drugs and alcohol.
By choosing a recreational activity that inherently demands mindfulness and sobriety, Natural Highs is able to weave many unique disciplines into a routine that aims to support youth’s mental health and ability to practice personal resiliency without drugs.
This summer a dear friend experienced rock climbing for the first time, they have been using drugs since they were 8 years old and at the top of the climb, they exclaimed: “I never need to do hard drugs again!”
How will it work?
The climbing empowerment program will run for six weeks each summer in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The program will be divided into three sections that will each run for two-week periods. We hope to enroll 12-18 students within each section and staff four instructors. At least two instructor positions will be reserved for Inuit to assert symmetrical power within the program’s leadership; it is important for Inuit youth to see themselves in equal positions of leadership. By offering these practices in an environment that values social and racial equity, our program aims to evolve as a healthy and safe space for youth to nourish their personal resilience.
It is vital for Natural Highs to consult with Inuit elders, parents, and community organizers. Before, throughout, and after the program’s pilot-run, continuous deep listening is a critical piece of developing this project. It is only through co-collaboration with the community of Iqaluit, and especially Inuit, that this offering will be able to evolve into a thriving program that serves the youth of Iqaluit.
We believe that it is the youth who will deliver the necessary global changes which will bring us back into a symbiotic relationship with the environment, other humans, and ourselves. This is the simplest interpretation of the mission of this program; to foster youth’s personal resiliency and stewardship of interpersonal and ecological communities.
