Members of the Liberal Women's Association in Weyburn heard how efforts by Women of the Dawn are helping Aboriginal people find jobs and receive training to get back on their feet.

Iva Kennedy, founder of the organization, spoke with a group of 15 people on the topic at the Signal Hill Arts Centre, Sept. 19.

"I've seen death, pain, suffering and suicide," Kennedy told her audience as she talked about the formation and work of Women of the Dawn, an organization that focuses on counselling and job finding for Aboriginals.

Kennedy grew up on the reserve and was taken from her home and put into a residential school at the age of five. She was there for three years and then went to a Catholic residential school in Regina. Afterwards she continued her education at a bible college and received her diploma.

She worked as an AIDS counsellor in Calgary and did a lot of her work on skid row. There she saw a lot of destitute people and a youth living on the streets.

Kennedy noticed people leaving Alberta for other provinces because the welfare system wasn't going to help them, and they had a tough time finding jobs without qualifications. Faced with these problems, she decided to start the Women of the Dawn.

Kennedy says she is finally seeing her seven years of hard work pay off. There are a lot of native people in the work force who have received their upgrading skills from Women of the Dawn.

In the past Kennedy has done many different jobs, including starting up a native group home for boys with her ex-husband. She has many plans for the future, including writing a book, getting into politics and passing the Women of the Dawn organization onto her daughter.