Power To Be, a not-for-profit based on Prospect Lake in Saanich, is celebrating the unveiling of brand-new, fully accessible buildings and a documentary that chronicles the five-year process as they strive to make nature accessible to all.
Power To Be aims to remove the physical, cognitive, social and financial barriers associated with accessing the natural world and offers various programs including inclusive hiking, camping, snowshoeing and canoeing adventures, as well as wellness, community and life skills programs.
”It’s about creating support systems, networks and a sense of community and belonging because disabilities are not to be fixed — they’re meant to be supported and understood, and we build strategies to help people live a healthy life to their best means,” said Jason Cole, co-CEO of Power To Be.
Five years ago the formerly nomadic organization took a significant step in community-building by finally having a place to call their own. They signed a 25-year lease on a 78-acre site on Prospect Lake for $1 a year from the Steele family, the owners of the site’s former Prospect Lake golf course.
After a lengthy planning process and a $10-million donation from a long-term donor, Power To Be broke ground on the site and started filming a documentary that chronicles the five-year planning and construction process each step of the way.
The newly released documentary, titled “Everyone Belongs in Nature,” includes the voice of Power To Be participant and accessibility advocate Marnie Essery, who was involved in the consultation process from the beginning.
Essery, who has been involved with Power To Be for almost 25 years and has participated in a number of its programs, said a highlight for her is using the TrailRider, a one-wheeled, all-terrain device supported by an individual on either side to climb terrain that would not be possible in her wheelchair.
She considers herself a “TrailRider enthusiast” and has a bucket list of places she wants to explore next.
“Sitting there on the TrailRider and being able to look at the scenery and know there was no way I’d be able to get there sitting in my wheelchair, those kinds of experiences are ones that I crave,” she said.
She said she “shared from the heart” during the documentary, advocating for the power of creating barrier-free experiences in nature.
“I remember sitting mesmerized by the water at the new Prospect Lake golf course site and talking about the things that could be on the new site and all that it could offer so everyone of all ages with disabilities can have their own opportunities and experiences in nature,” she said.
The organization brought in architect Christine Lintott for the design process. Ashley Dueck, director of systems and communications at Power To Be, said Lintott’s approach to universal design was impactful from the beginning.
“When we went to interview (Lintott), she didn’t have an idea. She said, ‘I don’t know what I want to build — I want to talk to your participants.’ And that resonated with us so strongly because we wanted their voices to be heard about what they needed to be perfected,” Dueck said.
The site is now home to two single-storey, fully-accessible buildings, complete with universal design features including multiple accessible bathrooms, wide hallways and automatic doors. The first is an office hub home to staff and participant lounges, and the second is a gear hub, which houses a community board room, a large kitchen and equipment storage.
“To be able to go out and tour the place and see just how much thought they put into the universal design features in the building was pretty impressive,” Essery said. “Everyone belongs in nature, and (Power To Be has) created a site that allows that to happen.”
HeroWorks, another non-profit, is currently supporting the transformation of two other buildings on the Prospect Lake site. One is an old barn that will be turned into an indoor play space, and the other will be a large pavilion that will fit up to 80 people. These two projects will be revealed in mid-August.
Power To Be is hosting a celebratory day Sept. 9 at the Prospect Lake site to celebrate its 25-year anniversary with the community. The organization hopes to welcome 25,000 people onto the site in the next 3 years.
It also hosts several free Have A Go Days each year, where members of the community can learn more about its programs and experiment with equipment.
“We live in a society where supports are getting less and less, so it’s really critical to have opportunities in nature,” Essery said.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
