Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus: A Decade of Empowering Students
Many of you know about our friends at Nurrait, but do you know how and when this extracurricular activity started?
Kativik Ilisarniliriniq takes pride in working alongside many colleagues and partner organizations, united by a common goal: we believe that student success begins with a strong identity, heritage, and connection to the people and the land of Nunavik.
Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus is near and dear to our hearts. The organization celebrated 10 years of activity in 2024, and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq sat down with president and founder Valérie Raymond to find out more about its beginnings.
“I loved telling my students about my weekend activities. This often included biking, camping, or skiing. My students were always curious to know where I had gone and what I had done”
It all started in 2013, when a group of ski enthusiasts decided to set out on an adventure that was unheard of at the time: a ski/camping trip that would start in Montréal and end in Kuujjuaq! The group called the expedition project Karibu.
At the time, Valérie was a teacher at Jaanimmarik secondary school in Kuujjuaq. An outdoor enthusiast, she loved to share her passion with her students. Every morning, Valérie and her students would track project Karibu’s progress online using a GPS. At one point, they even contacted the team by satellite phone to speak to them and ask them questions about their trip!
Slowly but surely, and inspired by project Karibu, students started joining Valérie for short ski trips over the weekend. In May, when project Karibu arrived in Kuujjuaq, the students organized a ski trip to welcome the group and ski the last few kilometres with them. At that point, Valérie felt motivated to offer an outdoor extracurricular activity to students, upgrade the school’s ski gear, and push the students towards a bigger challenge: skiing all the way to Tasiujaq!
“We put a lot of effort into our programs to try and reach all youths across Nunavik. We are also working to expand our activities and include the families.”
The first ski trip was a major challenge, but it clarified many things for Valérie. She was able to see the positive impact the outdoor activities had on the students, both in and out of the classroom. In the fall of 2014, Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus was founded as a non-profit organization, and 10 years later, it offers activities in all 14 communities, with many programs to include students of all ages. The team has started to get previous participants involved, namely by assigning them leadership and administrative roles.
So, what is in store for Nurrait | Jeunes Karibus over the next 10 years? Its priorities will be to continue serving the needs of Nunavik’s youths, while also creating young leaders who will be willing to take on key roles within the organization. “Young Nunavimmiut are so talented and strong. We would like to put them completely in charge, so that their input and ideas can be fully implemented to meet their needs. In 10 years, I won’t be the one talking about it; it will be previous participants,” concluded Valérie.
