All eyes were on IRS survivor Helen Kakekapetum as Professor Barbara Brockmann’s Education students at the University of Ottawa heard first-hand how Indian Residential Schools had affected Helen’s life from the age of four.

The class began with half the students leaving the room — the same percentage that would have died, had lecture hall 339 been a classroom at an Indian Residential School at the turn of the century.

Brockmann’s students got a hands-on immersion into Project of Heart, as they created beautiful gestures of reconciliation through working with remembrance tiles. The students also signed Amnesty International’s “Stolen Sisters” petition, adding their voices to the tens of thousands of Canadians that have called for action against the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada.

Project of Heart wishes to thank Ms. Brockmann and her students, and welcomes them into the family of schools and classrooms that are learning how to take responsibility for ourselves and our communities as we learn about our history.

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