Childcare centre offers a uy’natulh to life
Duncan News Leader Pictorial – Black Press
By Michelle Thompson
Oct 06 2007

Uy’natulh.

That’s the word cultural teaching assistant Merle Seymour uses to greet children when they arrive at Le’lum’uy’lh each day.

Meaning “good morning” in Hul’qumi’num, employees at the Cowichan Tribes childcare centre want to do more than get preschoolers’ days off to a good start.

By providing them with lessons in culture and language, the goal is to help the children develop appetites for learning that will continue as they progress to public schools.

“I feel like our children are really, really fortunate to have the environment we do have,” said manager Barbara Jimmy. “It’s an environment where they have the freedom to learn, to play, to develop at their own speed.”

Though Jimmy is tremendously appreciative of the program and the service it provides to Tribes’ children, the centre isn’t immune from a childcare crisis being felt provincially.

On Tuesday, a 52-page draft report documenting the need for more childcare resources was publicly released.

The Socially Planning Cowichan document found there are enough childcare spaces in the Valley to accommodate just 50 per cent of the children that need them.

A lack of spaces, trouble recruiting, and government funding were found to be main contributing factors.

Despite posting two job opportunities for early childhood educators, Jimmy received no bites. And right now, about two dozen children are on the wait list, and some could wait as long as two years to get a spot.

“(Space) is at a premium,” Jimmy said. “I try hard to accommodate as best I can.”

The wait list at the centre decreased considerably this year, dropping from 60 names to about 25 after a baby room opened.

Childcare spaces at Lel’um’uy’lh, the largest licensed childcare centre on Vancouver Island, are funded by the provincial and federal governments.

Parents don’t pay for the services and those currently enrolled in school get priority on the wait list. Working parents are second on the seniority list.

The goal is to encourage parents to finish their education while helping their children develop a solid start to their own, Jimmy said…