Nickel Belt News
Volume 57 Number 40
Friday, October 6, 2017
Thompson, Manitoba
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A crash course in healthy, everyday living for Thompson newcomers
Nickel Belt News photo by Kyle Darbyson Representatives from the NRHA showed up to the Thompson Public Library on Sept. 30 to run a mini health fair for newcomers. From left to right: Lynn Watkins, Carmen Ho and Melissa Pham. BY KYLE DARBYSON KYLE@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
With winter on the way, Thompson Newcomers Settlement Services (TNSS) decided to host a mini health fair at the Thompson Public Library Sept. 30 as a way to help integrate immigrants, live-in caregivers and other newcomers into the community. This workshop was a joint effort amongst different local organizations and was run
by representatives from the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA). According to Lynn Watkins, a health promotion coordinator for the NRHA, one of the biggest obstacles that newcomers face, especially if they come from warmer climates, is the cold and isolation that goes hand-in-hand with the winter season. Not only did Watkins provide attendees with some insight on how to properly
dress for this time of year, but she also talked about how to access outdoor physical activities that are free or cheap. “Just getting outside and getting some sunshine on your face and clearing your mind and just being in nature is so good for our mental health, as well as our physical health,” she said. “So having the proper equipment and gear and knowing how to apply that and how to
dress in layers is ready critical to being comfortable.” NHRA public health dietitian Melissa Pham was also on hand for the Sept. 30 workshop to give newcomers a better understanding of basic nutrition and what are some of the best places to buy food in Thompson. Rounding out the NRHA crew was Carmen Ho, who was there to introduce attendees to potentially foreign customs of Halloween and
how to stay safe during a night of trick-or-treating. “A lot of people will be out in the dark, they need to know how to watch out for cars, how to be visible in the dark, things like that,” she said. Outside of providing these newcomers with a primer on healthy, everyday living, Watkins said this workshop is also meant to help them form connections with people from TNSS, the
NRHA and the broader community at large. “The key thing is to have them come together as a group so they can start identifying their own needs, so it’s a way to kind of entice people and bring them out to start developing those relationships.” For more information on the programs offered by TNSS, please visit their offi cial website at www. thompsonsettlement.ca.
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