We always welcome feedback on our activities, and invite anyone interested to become involved in our committees and help to develop these projects.

Dialogue

At this time, the focus of our work is supporting dialogue and development throughout the communities that form the nest within which for our Gaelic language and culture grows.

We are looking at a few approaches, including face-to-face meetings in communities to collectively assess progress, and to get feedback on our recent draft planning work. These discussions are to be followed by an ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) workshop for community workers to explore how to better support their work. Then further community discussions will embark on mapping community assets that support, or might become a support Gaelic.

Telling our Stories – drama workshops

The story of Gaelic in Nova Scotia is not well understood, and many who know the story speak little of it because of the pain and anger that losing their language brings forth. We think that it is time to tell this story in powerful way, so that people understand why we want to speak Gaelic, and so that people who have suffered from this loss will be given the space to share their experience and move from grieving to healing.

“Telling our Stories” is a series of drama workshops wherein Gaelic learners take real stories collected from native Gaelic speakers and English speakers about their experiences being separated from their Gaelic language, and develop a play production for the public. The whole project will be a chance for people province-wide to work together on their Gaelic, and learn drama skills which they can then bring back to their own communities. The play itself will be presented with an opportunity for discussion afterwards, where people can reflect on evolving attitudes about language and traditional culture in our society.

Seniors’ Outings

Comhairle na Gàidhlig has received funding from the ‘New Horizons for Seniors’ program which allows us to support communities in hosting activities and outings to bring seniors together around Gaelic.  The program focuses on encouraging volunteerism and breaking isolation of seniors. We are working to blend these objectives with growing our Gaelic speak community, by making lasting connections between seniors groups and local Gaelic learners to share time and skills. Four communities have enlisted in the program which will run over the winter and into the spring of 2013.

Provincial Forum

On a regular basis, Comhairle na Gàidhlig hosts a provincial gathering for the Gaelic community, offering a day of workshops, family activities, and Gaelic language sessions for the curious, and for new and seasoned Gaelic learners. We alternate each year between Cape Breton Island and Mainland Nova Scotia, hosting in St. Andrews in Antigonish County in 2012, and heading to Cape Breton for May 2013.

The event typically involves daytime workshops, our Annual General Meeting, a Céilidh time in the evening, and a traditional Marag dinner, with special guest speaker.

Gaelic Language Workshops

Comhairle na Gàidhlig offer Gaelic language workshops periodically. Our working model is week-long residential immersion learning. Our goal is to develop our teaching capacity in Nova Scotia through strengthening the language skills of tutors and prospective tutors.

Comhairle na Gàidhlig hopes to see more and more of these sorts of learning opportunities available to Gaelic learners, and will be glad to support these initiatives in any way we can. We will continue to develop these programs, making sure that we are complementing, and not duplicating other great initiatives in the community.

Summer Student Employment

Each year we pursue funding, and are usually successful in hiring a returning student for summer employment. Responsibilities of the student were helping to plan and execute our provincial gathering and include organizational tasks, updates on the Gaelic Council’s website and events calendar, and assisting and representing the Council at community Gaelic events.

We are hosting these positions in Inverness County, the site of our administrative office, however the positions are open to students from across the province. All applicants must have access to reliable transportation, a computer, and access to high-speed internet.

Applicants must be returning full-time university students, and they should be studying in Celtic, cultural or community studies, or have experience in Gaelic language and cultural activities – however, all interested returning students are encouraged to apply, since there is such a range of skills and interests that can be accommodated in the position.

If full funding is received, the 14 week position will provide experience in communications, promotions and research work for students. Pending funding approval, the anticipated start date will be at the beginning of May. Applications should be postmarked or E-mailed by 6:00 pm, April 8, and include a cover letter, resume, and names and contact information of three references.

Comhairle na Gàidhlig Staffing

c/o Caroline Cameron

RR 2 Inverness, NS


B0E 1N0

comhairlenagaidhlig@gmail.com

Building Bridges throughout Municipal Government

Each year, we deliver a program of making presentations to Municipal Councils throughout the Gaelic regions of the province. We have been very well received, and the meetings have been informative for us; developing personal connections within the governance environment that we are working has been encouraging. Through this project, we have been able to raise the Gaelic profile a little more as local newspapers cover our presentations. Our presentation is an overview of our concerns, an update on our plans for the next few years, and a request for their support in principal, and financially when possible. Response in financial terms and in terms of a show of support from the grass-roots level has been gratifying to date.

Creating Spaces for Gaelic Conversation in Communities

We will continue to work with communities to discuss how to provide more informal and accessible ways for people to share Gaelic socially. Gàidhlig aig Baile Classes are an essential piece in growing Gaelic, but every learner needs a community of speakers and a place where they can gather with other speakers and share and practice.