Books With No Bounds founders visit Fort Severn

Two teenage sisters from southern Ontario who have been sending books to northern Ontario communities had the opportunity to meet the readers of those books when they visited Fort Severn First Nation on May 14-15.
Emma and Julia Mogus of Oakville, Ont. visited the northernmost community in Ontario along with their mother, Janet, and friend and town councilor Pam Damoff.
Last summer, Emma and Julia formed Books With No Bounds, an initiative aimed at sending new or like-new books to remote communities in northern Ontario. Since then, the sisters have sent more than 18,000 books to the fly-in NAN communities.
The visit to Fort Severn allowed the sisters to meet some of the readers of books face-to-face.
“Fort Severn is special to us because it’s one of the places we received letters for the first time,” Julia, 15, said.
“We really wanted to meet the kids who were so happy in their letters, and they were kids that connected with us, and we were so happy to meet them.” Emma, 14, said.
Julia said it was shock to learn through the letters that the community had no school and instead, the children had to learn in portables.
However, Emma said she was surprised to see the happiness and excitement in the kids.
When they arrived at the hotel, two girls began to talk to the sisters. More children joined and eventually Emma and Julia were surrounded by about 20 kids eager to meet the sisters who travelled all the way north. They were taken to a clubhouse and took part in a snowball fight.
“It really made the experience more memorable,” Julia said.
The Mogus sister learned what kinds of books the children wanted to read as well as that the school had began a reading program using the books the girls had sent.
The trip also allowed the Mogus sisters visit a First Nations community for the first time as well as travel north of Ottawa.
While in Fort Severn, the sisters were treated to a small feast in a teepee where they tried traditional foods; a ride in a four-wheeler out to the Hudson Bay coast; a morning with schoolchildren where they plucked geese; and a helicopter ride around the community.
The sisters enjoyed being in the community.
“The weather was beautiful, the trees, the whole scenery was amazing,” Emma said. “We don’t have rivers were the ice is breaking. It’s a beautiful community. We were welcomed so warmly.”
“It’s like a whole different world even though we’re in the same province,” Julia added. “The people are really nice and amazing.”