MUN social work students launching documentary
Film features interviews on topic of missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls
First-year social work students at MUN will launch a documentary tonight about missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls.
The Telegraph, (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-11-21/article-3946977/MUN-social-work-students-launching-documentary/1
Nineteen students have been working on the project since September, when they set out to raise awareness of a countrywide issue they say deserves more attention.
“From what we’ve been learning there hasn’t been much action from the government concerning this issue,” said Courtney Caines of St. John’s.
“Not many people even know about it. For example we didn’t know about it before we started the social work program, so we want to raise awareness.”
Caines met with The Telegram this week, along with classmates Jessica Ricketts of Stephenville and Kelsey Chaisson of Cornwall, P.E.I., to discuss the project.
“We did interviews around campus and … out of all the people we interviewed, I think there was one student who actually had heard of it,” said Ricketts.
The goal of the documentary is two-fold, they said: to increase awareness and to add their voices to those asking the federal government for an inquiry into the issue.
The students were moved after attending the Sisters in Spirit vigil in October, at which Loretta Saunders’ mother spoke.
“Going to the vigil and hearing the stories from the families, it was just so much more real, which is why I think it was so important that we do the community service for something that we hear about that’s so serious. Because then we figure out what it actually means to them,” said Ricketts.
“When we went to the vigil, we actually realized that they need our help, and as a future social worker, that’s so important to me. … We’ve been put in this position of privilege where this stuff isn’t happening to us, and I think it’s important that we make them aware that we don’t think it’s not a big deal.”
The project has been eye opening for the students. Chaisson said she feels she has grown from the experience, and she has learned the importance of working collaboratively with people of different backgrounds and cultures.
“They’re the experts of their own lives, so in order to help them we got to talk to them,” she said.
Everyone is welcome to attend the launch of the documentary tonight at 7 p.m. in MUN’s engineering building.
The documentary will be uploaded to YouTube after the launch, the students said.
MUN School of Social Work documentary: Beginning with Our Voices
This video was made as part of a community service learning project by the social justice 2711-003 social work students from Memorial University of Newfoundland's School of Social Work, in partnership with the Aboriginal Resource Office of Memorial University. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRxPUHmC8w
The Telegraph, (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.thetelegram.com/News/Local/2014-11-21/article-3946977/MUN-social-work-students-launching-documentary/1
Nineteen students have been working on the project since September, when they set out to raise awareness of a countrywide issue they say deserves more attention.
“From what we’ve been learning there hasn’t been much action from the government concerning this issue,” said Courtney Caines of St. John’s.
“Not many people even know about it. For example we didn’t know about it before we started the social work program, so we want to raise awareness.”
Caines met with The Telegram this week, along with classmates Jessica Ricketts of Stephenville and Kelsey Chaisson of Cornwall, P.E.I., to discuss the project.
“We did interviews around campus and … out of all the people we interviewed, I think there was one student who actually had heard of it,” said Ricketts.
The goal of the documentary is two-fold, they said: to increase awareness and to add their voices to those asking the federal government for an inquiry into the issue.
The students were moved after attending the Sisters in Spirit vigil in October, at which Loretta Saunders’ mother spoke.
“Going to the vigil and hearing the stories from the families, it was just so much more real, which is why I think it was so important that we do the community service for something that we hear about that’s so serious. Because then we figure out what it actually means to them,” said Ricketts.
“When we went to the vigil, we actually realized that they need our help, and as a future social worker, that’s so important to me. … We’ve been put in this position of privilege where this stuff isn’t happening to us, and I think it’s important that we make them aware that we don’t think it’s not a big deal.”
The project has been eye opening for the students. Chaisson said she feels she has grown from the experience, and she has learned the importance of working collaboratively with people of different backgrounds and cultures.
“They’re the experts of their own lives, so in order to help them we got to talk to them,” she said.
Everyone is welcome to attend the launch of the documentary tonight at 7 p.m. in MUN’s engineering building.
The documentary will be uploaded to YouTube after the launch, the students said.
MUN School of Social Work documentary: Beginning with Our Voices
This video was made as part of a community service learning project by the social justice 2711-003 social work students from Memorial University of Newfoundland's School of Social Work, in partnership with the Aboriginal Resource Office of Memorial University. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WRxPUHmC8w
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