Stories from Southwest Saskatchewan

I am staying at a beautiful bed and breakfast on a farm near Wymark, SK, which is about 20 kilometres south of Swift Current.

When I pulled up to the house last night, three (of nine) farm cats and two dogs greeted me.

Just outside the patio doors to my bedroom are pigs, horses and a chicken coop. Right now, I can hear sheep having a conversation with the cows from my window.

I grew up in Saskatoon and have not had much experience with farm life. It’s fitting that I’m staying here, since I’m facilitating a digital storytelling workshop in Ponteix, SK and several of the participants are doing their stories on the family farm. The workshop is organized by the Southwest Welcome Newcomer Centre and is being held at the Cultural Centre in Ponteix, or perhaps more commonly known to the locals as Le Centre Culturel Royer.

Just a few weeks ago, Ponteix celebrated its 100th anniversary. It’s a town of about 600 people with a lively Francophone community. In the early 20th century, Ponteix was founded by a priest from France and became a French settlement. Father Albert Marie Royer named the town Ponteix after the church he served in France. This afternoon I wandered through the cemetery and noticed that many of the surnames on the graves were indeed French.

One woman in the workshop is doing her digital story in French with English subtitles. Another young girl is working on a story about moving to Saskatchewan from the Philippines. And one participant’s story is on cross-cultural friendships formed among young people at a leadership camp.

I’m looking forward to watching these digital narratives from Southwest Saskatchewan and sharing them with you.