Members of the Muskwa Legacy Youth Group have launched an initiative just in time for Valentine鈥檚 Day.
They have put together Valentine鈥檚 Dat mental health 鈥渓ove yourself鈥� care packages for the youth of Mosquito Grizzly Bear鈥檚 Head Lean Man First Nation.
The Muskwa Legacy Youth Group is co-founded by Talaya Shideh Moosomin, age 15, and Kyleesha Stone, age 16, two young members of the Mosquito reserve. Talaya was a finalist in the Indigenous Youth Idea Challenge, and Kyleesha is accepted to run for 2021 Miss Teen Canada Globe Production.
According to Erika Wahobin, Talaya鈥檚 mom, they were inspired to do something for Mosquito reserve to address the mental health issues in the area. Wahobin said that since COVID-19 hit, they have lost a lot of youth to suicides, rollovers and drug and alcohol related deaths.
There was also a void on the reserve with the loss of Andy Wahobin, a youth mentor and a soccer coach who had coached several championship Mosquito teams.
To honor him, Erika said she and Talaya came up with a plan to start up a youth group.
The group started a Facebook page under the name Muskwa Legacy, and it 鈥渂lew up鈥�, said Erika. The group provides posts about mental health, counselling and youth supports, as well as job openings and certificates and challenges that youth can do.
The group started by encouraging youth to take online safety certificates through the Saskatchewan Safety Council and the CSTS 2020 construction certificate, as a way to give them something to look forward to.
They also started a podcast and that has spurred more interest in the group, including from surrounding reserves such as Saulteaux, Moosomin, Thunderchild, Sweetgrass and elsewhere.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really great feeling knowing that these youth are taking care of themselves now,鈥� Wahobin said.
The group recently did a 25 Days of Christmas giveaway and wanted to do something for Valentine鈥檚 Day on the heels of that.
For their latest effort, they got funds from the Rising Youth Community Service Grant and for the last month they have been busy creating the 鈥淟ove Yourself Mental Health Care Packs鈥� for youth, with about 40 care packages being made and given out for Valentines Day to 40 youth.
Those will include personal notes designed to keep everyone positive and keep everyone safe, and will be sent to youth on Mosquito and around the Battlefords area. The main message being sent to the recipients is to say they are there to support them.
Erika is very proud of the group her daughter is involved in and feels the group has made an impact in keeping the youth of Mosquito motivated, by slowing down the death rate and also helping the youth do well at school. 鈥淲ith Kyleesha and Talaya, those two girls are the highlight of the group,鈥� she said.
