Manitoba caregiver worried wildfire evacuation will have lasting impacts on children
Northern schools in a dozen communities closed due to wildfires, smoke
Wildfire evacuee Irvin Head from Cranberry Portage, who cares for his nephew and two nieces, is concerned about what the evacuation means for children's education, socialization and well-being away from school.
Head and his family, who are among the 21,000 wildfire evacuees from Manitoba, were forced out of their home at the end of May and have been staying in Winnipeg since.
The family has mostly been cooped up inside with their electronics and pets, apart from a visit to the Assiniboine Park Zoo last week facilitated by the Canadian Red Cross, Head said.
The evacuation experience has been stressful and full of uncertainty for the children, he said.
"The kids feel it just as much as we do, but they express it differently," Head said.
"It's necessary for the kids to be able to have those activities and have some sort of normalcy, because if we're stuck in our, where we're renting, and there's nothing for them to do there, they lose that sort of schedule. Like, they say, 'Oh, I miss my school friends. I wish I could go to school again.'"
Head's 14-year-old nephew is missing out on core memories at school, including his Grade 8 trip to Churchill that's been cancelled.
"It's upsetting, and the best we could do is say, 'OK, we'll go to the zoo, this and that,' but you can sort of tell he was really disappointed," he said.
"It's going to be every kid's problem who had to miss out on that sort of stuff."
Cranberry Portage's evacuation last year due to a different wildfire meant some high school graduates missed out on their postponed graduation, he said.
Northern schools closed
Head's nephew and two nieces are among about 800 children in the Frontier School Division who've been displaced due to evacuation orders brought on by wildfires in the last few weeks.
They're from seven schools in Bissett, Cranberry Portage, Cross Lake, Lynn Lake, Sherridon and Snow Lake, Frontier chief superintendent Tyson MacGillivray told CBC News.
It's the most significant evacuation he can recall his division ever having to work through, he said.
"It's a very stressful time for families and students, and they're navigating and using their tools to make this the best that they can, given the severe circumstances that they're under," MacGillivray said.
In the last two weeks, poor air quality due to wildfire smoke has also forced some day closures at schools in Brochet, Gillam, Leaf Rapids, Norway House, South Indian Lake and Wabowden, he said.
"One day you may have great air quality. The next day, depending on the wind, the community can be blanketed by smoke, so it's really on a case-by-case basis … to make that call on whether we should continue with classes or postpone them for the day."
MacGillivray says for now, the division is focused on student wellness and getting in touch with displaced families scattered across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario to make sure they have activities and feel well supported.
He hopes most of the evacuees will be able to go back to their communities in the next week to 10 days, and children can return to school for the remainder of the academic year.
"As soon as we have the OK to get back into the community, we'll re-engage our kids," to make sure students are in a good place and prepared for their next grade level, MacGillivray said.
'We're in survival mode'
Frontier School Division and Louis Riel School Division are among those helping the Cross Lake Education Authority put on a field day in Winnipeg on Wednesday.
The event's activities include balloons and bouncy castles, along with games and learning booths for displaced students.
"That's at least something we can do," Pimicikamak Cree Nation Coun. Vivian Scott said Tuesday.
The chief and council have mainly been preoccupied with making sure community members are fed and have a place to stay for the night, since the First Nation declared a state of emergency last month due to a nearby out-of-control wildfire, Scott said.
They continue to deal with daily accommodation and payment issues with the Red Cross, she said.
"As for learning, I wish good luck to all our parents with that, because … we're in survival mode," Scott said.
Head is grateful his family was able to secure an Airbnb during the evacuation, although they're also plagued with questions and worries about whether they'll be reimbursed.
"If this continues on for longer than they plan, how is this going to pan out?" he said.
"Are we going to have to transfer the kids if we have to stay here for longer?"
Head would be open to having the children continue their education online, similar to COVID-19 pandemic times, or getting learning materials from schools, so they can resume their studies until they can go home.
"I don't know if this situation is going to get any better before it gets worse," he said.
"Some days it feels like, 'Oh, maybe we should have stayed home.'"
Find the latest wildfire information:
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.
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