A new year of ongoing growthWinter Solstice was a few weeks ago. On most of our territories, the land lied beneath a blanket of snow and marked the change from an old year into a new one. The practice of celebrating a new year for many, falls on the last day of December as it flows into the first day of January, according to the Gregorian Sun calendar and imposed upon our ancestors. The First Peoples traditionally lived (and some still do) according to Grandmother Moon. There are some variations of the ancestral traditional practice of when the new year begins depending on the nation. For many First Peoples, the New Year falls on the new moon following the winter solstice. For some, it is on the first full moon after the solstice. Whenever you traditionally choose to celebrate the change from the old to a new year, 2025 will bring many changes. And the KBE (KAIROS Blanket Exercise) programming also continues to change and evolve. In the December issue of the KAIROS Times, we reported the leaps and bounds we’ve made in our journey to reopen the program. These strides continue and a fuller training program is near completion. New partnership requests continue to come in daily. And a foundation for the program is underway. We're excited to continue growing the KBE and providing our partners and their participants with the best possible experience. To maintain the integrity and standard of the program, we’ve had to adjust our pricing structure. We understand that this change might impact our partners’ budgets. With the new roll-out of the program, we will continuously monitor its impact and make further adjustments as necessary to ensure the sustainability and impact of the program. We appreciate your support and understanding. In 2023, the KBE along with its international partners, delivered a World KBE at WIPCE (World Indigenous Peoples Conference on Education) in Australia. We would love to build on this success and bring the KBE to the 2025 WIPCE conference in New Zealand. We are actively seeking grants, sponsorships and donations to make this possible. Please reach out if you would like to be part of sending KAIROS and Indigenous partners to WIPCE, and bring the transformative power of the KBE to the world stage once again! On behalf of the KBE Team – our best wishes to all for 2025. |
