What Stays After the Work
Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, March 2026.
A reflection by Rochelle Ledoux Molgat
On March 3rd, 2026, we held an Indigenous Roots of Reconciliation workshop in Sault Ste. Marie. As a trainer, you come in knowing that people arrive with different expectations, and sometimes uncertainty about what the work will ask of them.
After the first morning, I checked in with one participant to see if the introduction aligned with her expectations or if she had envisioned something different.
She mentioned that hearing the word reconciliation usually makes her think she'll have to endure ongoing truth and pain. However, after that initial morning, she noticed a shift. She expressed that she started to see the process as about gaining awareness, understanding our natural tendencies, and learning to manage what arises so we can progress more resiliently.
She stayed for the full four days.
By the end of the workshop, I asked her how she experienced the journey. She described it as expansive, a process that moves through self-reflection and understanding, then into action. She spoke about how the framework helped her not only see what was coming up but also what to do with it. There was a sense of clarity and confirmation of the work she had already been doing in her own life.
When I asked her what word came to mind about her experience, she said: Direction.
She spoke about how healing is not linear. There are moments when things feel clear and others when they do not. What she took from the workshop was not perfection, but a way to understand where she is in that process, without seeing it as failure, and to keep moving forward.
As a trainer, this is how I understand the impact of the work.
It is not only measured by how many people attend or complete a workshop. It is found in moments like this, when someone leaves with greater clarity, a stronger sense of self, and a different way of showing up in their life.
That is where the real work continues.
Deidre Gregory, Lisa Raven & Rochelle Ledoux Molgat, March 2026.