Role Model Profile: Alex Jules, Rediscovery Camp Coordinator
In his seventh year coordinating the Kyuquot Rediscovery Camps, Alex Jules is also a student at Malaspina College-University working towards his diploma in Tourism and Recreation. The son of Corinne Sutherland from Ahousaht and Ray Jules Jr. of Kyuquot, Alex enjoys his job as much as the Rediscovery Camp participants.
“I like it because it doesn’t feel like a job,” states Jules. “I like the interactions between kids and the other staff. I like getting away from the norm and want to give kids an appreciation of nature.”
Growing up in Kyuquot, Alex knew the pressures facing youth, including his own young cousins and relatives. “I know the pressures of substance abuse and I didn’t want them to do that,” Alex said. “Kids look forward to the camps and you could see the change in kids with their responsibilities and chores. It helps them to grow. They get in touch with the territory and ocean. We take it for granted.”
Alex’s journey toward the Kyuquot Rediscovery Camp program began by working in Hesquiaht through Rediscovery, where he first learned about the program. “I learned a lot from Karen and Stephen Charleson. It changed me. I chose this path, met my wife and straightened my life out,” said Jules. From his experience at Hesquiaht, he was asked to run an adult retreat. There Alex found out that he really had what it takes to be a camp coordinator.
A typical day in the job of a Rediscovery Camp Coordinator prior to camp means doing the shopping and getting all of the supplies delivered to Kyuquot two or three days in advance. He also arranges boat rides and confirms registration. “There are always last minute wharf runners,” states Alex, “but we never turn anyone away.”
During the camps, the days start with morning exercise followed by a hike, lunch together, and forest or beach games. “The program planning is done before we go out on a camp,” states Jules, “but sometimes we have to go on a whim depending upon the weather.”
The skills and training required to coordinate a Rediscovery Camp range from leadership skills, wilderness first aid, boat rescue, camp development, risk management and “just knowing how to have fun with anybody,” says Alex.
Some of the greatest challenges that Alex faces as camp coordinator are issues of community trust. “I am beginning to get trust back from my community,” states Alex. “I wasn’t the perfect role model growing up – but that’s how I learned. I had to learn the hard way.”
In the future, Alex hopes to run his own culturally based eco-tourism business to teach about Nuu-chah-nulth culture through bus tours, kayaks, and perhaps even a lodge out on the coast. For right now, Alex is committed to making a difference through the Rediscovery program. “We get them out on the land and they learn from it and get some of our culture back,” said Jules. “Just living from the land is important. Working day in and day out.”