Most people are familiar with the African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” But sometimes it takes an entire elementary school to heal a broken spirit.
When École Puntledge Park Elementary teacher Susan Leslie created a school-wide project to learn about and show respect for Indian residential school survivors, she invited Ed Carswell to document the venture.
The result is Project Heart: Honouring Residential School Survivors. Carswell, an educational filmmaker and World Community Film Festival co-ordinator, is thrilled that Project Heart will premiere at the WCFF opening Jan. 31.
“I’ve presented and directed educational films for more than 25 years,” he says, “and it’s long been a dream of mine to explore First Nations' issues.”
In her quest to help students understand the affects of native residential schools, Leslie organized storytelling circles and art projects with Puntledge students ranging from five to 12 years old.
She also invited Comox Valley resident Verna Flanders to share her experiences as a residential school survivor.
For 10 years Flanders was a resident at St. Michael’s School in Alert Bay. From the age of 10 until she was 16, Flanders had no contact with her family, was abused and painfully lonely.
“It was inspiring to get to know Verna and hear her story,” says Carswell. “The film touches on some heart-wrenching times in her life while the involvement of the students allows the film to have a lighter, more hopeful message.”
“I hope it leaves viewers with the idea that we can be braver about learning Canada’s history and about cross-cultural differences.”
The film concludes with the entire student body participating in a blanket ceremony for five residential school survivors.
“The whole project went together very smoothly,” notes Carswell. “Leslie and Verna are amazing presenters and the students brought a lot of energy to the project.”
Project Heart was filmed in and outside at École Puntledge Park Elementary and also includes footage Carswell took at St. Michael’s in Alert Bay.
A bonus to the premiere is that Carswell, Leslie and Flanders will be available to answer questions after the film.
For more information, visit www.worldcommunity.ca.
Paula Wild is a published author and regular contributor to the Comox Valley Record's arts and entertainment section. www.paulawild.ca.