Good people, good programs

Page 29

Greg Krivda, from Thompson, Man., is an experienced counsellor who works with youth at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre in Yellowknife, a city of about 18,000 people. He's also a walking advertisement for Nechi.

Krivda has taken four Nechi courses: "I think I crammed five years into two years," he said. These were Community Addictions Training; Advanced Counsellor Training; Native Addictions Worker Program; and finally Program Management Training. "I did my practicum while I was taking it - here in Yellowknife, at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre," he adds.

"I've been working now the past two years as a youth worker, and two years prior to that I was working with the adults."

Krivda talked to Windspeaker about his present job. "That consists of going into the schools, all of the schools here, and presenting workshops and doing one-on-one counselling, working with the school team with the youth," he said.

"Nechi training was super - I loved it. It was something that you could understand. It wasn't all these $40 words - it was clear and concise teachings. It was very understandable.

"For a guy that was out of school for 20 years, actually I fooled myself and I did not bad on the exam."

How he succeeded in reaching his goals says something about the man's motivation.

"I flew back and forth - 27 trips." This involved attending Nechi for a week or two, returning to Yellowknife for a few weeks, returning for more training and repeating the pattern until he completed his programs.

"There's so many good things to say about Nechi, I don't know where to start," he said. "You're treated very well there; you're treated like a human being. It's not like a normal, everyday school. It's down to earth, is the way I would put it. Very easygoing people, but also the structure was in there at the same time, to not let us get away with anything," Krivda said.