Centre offers solace to bereaving kids

Since it opened in 2005, it has been a mission of mercy. Under the auspices of NOVA West Island, the Carousel Centre in Pointe Claire Village has provided guidance and support to a host of West Island youth who have lost a loved one.

“The goal is to help them mourn and cope with their loss by sharing their experiences and emotions through discussion, either one-on-one or in community workshops,” director Carol Jonas explained.

“About five years ago I was asked to start a bereavement program for children,” said Jonas, who was presented with an award last fall by the Canadian Association for Young Children for her works with young people.

The initiative was inspired by a similar program based in Toronto, she added.

The Carousel Centre proved to be such a success in helping children through the grieving process that it has broadened its mandate to offer counselling to adults and widows’ groups.

Last September, the centre further expanded by introducing its first Carousel Camp for about a dozen six to 16-year-olds.

“It took a while to put together, but it finally came to fruition.”

Participants spent the weekend at Cap St. Jacques Nature Park in Pierrefonds.

“We slept in bunks, and volunteers did the cooking for us. There were arts and crafts and recreational activities led by a fascinating park animator, among them a night-time obstacle course. The kids also painted mandalas, (an artistic design representing the cosmos) which have been used for centuries as a form of meditation.”

The effect was therapeutic, she said, adding the main objective was to “give the children an opportunity to express themselves, and to have fun.

“At the end of the camp we released butterflies by a beautiful lake.”

It was an act of symbolism based on a children’s book “which shows the change from the chrysalis to the butterfly, setting it ‘free.’ Grief is the cocoon; mourning the butterfly.”

The centre will be organizing another Carousel Camp in 2009, possibly in June. For more information about the centre’s services, call NOVA at 514-695-8335.