Written by: Paula Drouin, Founder and Director of ADR International Group Inc. and ADR Learning Institute
Do you feel honored by the invitations you receive? To be invited to a birthday or Thanksgiving dinner or simply an invite to hang out with someone. If you receive many invitations and have a lively social life these invitations may have become commonplace and appear of less value than they are.
As we age, we often receive less invitations than in our earlier years. I remember a time when responding to invitations was just a to-do item I had to fit into my schedule somehow. Weddings, baby showers, dinners, movies, nights out and so on and so on. It is common to not appreciate the significance of being an important part of a friend or family gathering. Now, it is no longer lost on me how precious spending Thanksgiving with family is. Or the acceptance of the invitations I offer. Inviting grandkids for a sleep-over, or being invited on little trips with my son’s family.
Another thing I am profoundly grateful for is being invited to deliver training to indigenous communities that have not invited me before and being given an opportunity to earn their trust. In August and September this year I was invited by two First Nations in Ontario to deliver training to their staff. Both groups were warm, welcoming and engaging. Both groups had the courage to help me understand their specific training needs and we co-created the training to meet those needs. There was so much laughter, role play risk taking, curious questions and exceptional listening evident every day.
Feeling humbled, grateful and appreciative hardly covers the deep sense of feeling I have for each of them and a depth of honor to have felt included in their journey of determining how best to apply their learning to creating programs that will be culturally appropriate for their members. I want to share what happens when you allow your participants to become the experts in their training.
The training I am going to write about was for KIDO staff and the Odoonendamaakeg, Decision Makers. KIDO stands for Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Dibenjikewin Onaakonikewin. In the local Anishininiimowin (Oji-Cree) language, this translates directly to Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Family Law.
We first delivered a week of training in their fly-in community, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, in August, then delivered training to a larger group of their members in Thunder Bay in September. The KIDO Training Team arranged for a translator and headsets so the nine elders in attendance could learn in Oji-Cree.
The photos below show the graduating class and demonstrate what training can look like when you allow the participants to co-design and deliver the training. We would pause training so the Elders could determine which words in their language would be best for each of the key terms introduced. I am honored to have been trusted to be present for these elder deliberations with the inclusion of all participants. Being one of the learners for the sessions on Oji-Cree Syllabics and each of us creating our name tent cards using Oji-Cree was very meaningful. Pausing the training for learning the words and how to write the Grandfather Teachings took the training to a depth of meaning not otherwise possible. Each word is a description not a ‘flat’ word that has to be memorized to know the meaning.
The other dynamic in this group was starting each morning with prayer, blessing the food at breakfast and lunch, ending the day with a prayer. Prayer was an inclusive activity, sometimes in Oji-Cree sometimes a Christian prayer, sometimes some quiet reflection with words of gratitude. The whole experience felt blessed and many commented on how they could feel the love in the room every day.
The lesson in all of this is to accept invitations, be fully present, be open to contributing in a way that benefits everyone, listen, learn, love and laugh.
The graduation photo was taken on September 25th, 2026, by the photographer/ videographer they invited to attend the entire week.
The translator who is also a professor teaching Oji-Cree at university taught everyone the Oji-Cree syllabics, and we were tasked with creating name tags in that language and writing.
This is my name tag which say Paula. The sideways W is supposed to be much smaller buy this is what learning looks like.
The translator who is also a professor teaching Oji-Cree at university taught everyone the Oji-Cree syllabics, and we were tasked with creating name tags in that language and writing.
This is my name tag which say Paula. The sideways W is supposed to be much smaller buy this is what learning looks like.
