Aim to be leaders, Stephen Ash tells youth

Leadership is one of the most important aspects youth can learn.
This according to Stephen Ash, a reverend is his home community of Webequie, who travelled to Nibinamik First Nation (Summer Beaver) to host a workshop on the subject at the 12th annual Youth Wilderness Retreat July 12-17.
“I want the youth to aim for being leaders when they get older,” Ash said. “I want them to aim at being chief or a minister in their community.”
Leading the workshop in Nibinamik marked Ash’s first time teaching at the wilderness retreat, although he has participated as a volunteer in the past.
His workshop took place on the first day of the camp. Other workshops offered on the first day were parenting skills, biblical teachings and bannock making. The campers were broken up in small groups of eight to 10 people and spent the day rotating to the different workshops, which all lasted about an hour each.
Ash’s main message was to teach the youth to have self-confidence, which they need in order to be a leader in their community or church.
“As the youth get older they will have to take on more responsibility in their communities,” Ash said.
In order to prepare them for this, Ash believes the youth need to get a good education and training, which comes from workshops like his.
“Go to school first and then you’ll be able to teach someone else who is young as they are growing up,” Ash said.
Ash wants to build strong leaders in the youth now and hopes that they will pass on their leadership skills to the youth in the future.
Angel Nothing hadn’t attended the wilderness retreat in six years. But this year she helped bring a group of seven youth to the camp from Wunnumin Lake by boat.
She said the camp has offered workshops in the past, but now there are more, causing a greater number of youth to sign up to attend.
“The camp is getting bigger, so it’s offering more workshops now,” she said.
“I hope the kids learn something and can use what they learn in their future,” she said.