Rice Krispies (Mom likes Special K)

A few days ago, I got an e-mail from a reporter at the Nunavut News newspaper who said she was interested in our recycling initiative and wanted to know more about the project. This morning, she called for a phone interview, and asked about the involved parties and the steps we took to get to where we are now. I was so excited to talk about the project that I'm not exactly sure what I said, but I do know I managed to make my two most important points, which were:

1) This is not going to be just another unfinished project. Cambridge Bay will have a recycling program in the near future.

2) If nothing else, I hope that this project showed the students that they have the power to make big changes in this community, and that their voices are important and respected.

After lunch, I conducted an oral interview with Kim Crockatt, the director of the Nunavut Literacy Council. I chose to interview her because I admire that she, as an outsider, was able to become a valuable part of the community and initiate several incredible social programs.

I also took the opportunity to ask her about what inspired her to adopt her first child (she's had over 50 foster and adopted children!). Surprisingly, she said, "It was an accident, really!" She met her first daughter while working at the library. The little girl would come in every day, and Kim learned that she lived with her grandmother. When her grandmother died, Kim and her husband told the RCMP that they wanted to help in any way possible, which led to her moving in! Kim laughed and said, "Then, a few days later, the RCMP called and said that she had some brothers, so we moved them in too!"

Kim Crockatt...Superwoman

The rest of the workday was spent preparing for Canada Day tomorrow. We are organizing the community's festivities, so we spent the majority of the day baking desserts and moving in the barbecue supplies (unfortunately, not real barbecue...only hotdogs and hamburgers). I learned that I am no good at making Rice Krispy treats. I am comforted by the fact that this enabled me to fulfill a goal of mine for this summer, which was to further recognize my weaknesses. Now, I just have to figure out how to hide this newfound weakness! : )

I had to use force to keep Lisa from pilfering Rice Krispy treats

I spent the rest of the day working on the manual for the recycling program. I am including a history of the project (how the project was born and what has already been accomplished), directions for the future, a description of how the project could work and contact information for all parties involved.

It's almost Canada Day! Also, for those of you who didn't understand the title, it's from a song called "Cereal and Milk". : )

The Great Canadian-American Oreo Battle

Though today was not the epitome of excitement, one thing was certainly settled once and for all...

Canadian Oreos are better than American Oreos.

It's true. I thought it was just a figment of my imagination, but after the taste test I conducted today, I found that 5 out of 6 tasters agreed that they do indeed taste different. This is not surprising, as Oreos in the United States are made by Nabisco, whereas in Canada they are made by Mr. Christie. Three people favored the Canadian over the American brand, because it has a sweeter cream. Two people favored the American version, giving the reasons that it was not too sweet and that the cookie part tasted better. The final score was four for the Canadian Oreo (that includes my vote!), two for the American Oreo and one person who said they couldn't tell the difference.

Cameron was a Canadian fan

Brendan preferred the American Oreo

I was thinking about Minda's recent blog comments as I was running tonight; she wondered about why I said I thought I knew more about the prevalent social problems in Cambridge Bay than of those in Salisbury. It's a complicated question, really, and since I have been in the North, I have observed much that has allowed me to come closer to the truth.

At home, I was sheltered, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, it is unfortunate when people live in their own comfortable bubble in their own neatly trimmed yard in the middle of a quiet suburb, because though they are vaguely aware that social problems exist, they don't know many people who deal with them. Though I did my fair share of service in the community as I grew up, I served in "comfortable" ways, like the Special Olympics or at nursing homes. Because of this, I developed a passion for service. However, now, whenever I encounter people who are struggling with serious social problems, like abuse or addiction, I am not sure how to handle the situation, or I try to escape from the awkwardness through humor.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful that my parents sheltered me from the evils of the world; I really am! However, I am also grateful for opportunities like this Summer of Service, which allows me to experience these issues more in depth than I would get to in my hometown (where I already know which streets to avoid and people are less willing to share about their problems). I hope that in the future I will have the opportunity to engage in more "dangerous" service experiences, because I want to understand the difficult struggles that others go through, and to learn from firsthand experiences.

Part of the problem, too, is the Southern "that's just the way it is" attitude. If you have ever lived in a small town, chances are you've heard these words many times. If you are like this, you have seen it all. You have tried to help, and you know that nothing with ever change. You are a jerk. How would you feel if you were a victim of abuse, addiction, gang violence, etc. and someone told you that nothing would ever change? I mean, frankly, I can't help but become exasperated when encountering this attitude. Nothing is ever permanent! Since change is inevitable, why not change for the better?

I am really excited about returning to Duke in the fall. Thus far, i have not had the opportunity to do service within the Durham community. I have already begun to brainstorm next semester's activities, and I am excited about the possibility of assisting with a Girl Scout troop. Perhaps I can find other, more "dangerous" ways of serving as well. ; )

The Beauty of the Tundra

The inside of the Anglican Church

I arrived 15 minutes early at the Anglican church this morning, so I took a seat around the middle and snapped some pictures while I waited for the service to start. There were only a handful of elders at the Inuinnaqtun service, held every Sunday at 11:15 am. Mary Kilaodluk led the service, and was very kind to tell me the page numbers for the hymns and scripture readings in English. At one point, she turned to David and conversed with him for about a minute. I could have sworn that she said the word, "kublunuk" (white person) several times, but I wasn't sure what was going on, of course. Then, she read the passage in English for me. : )

Later in the day, Lisa took me four-wheeling out to Mount Pelly! It was a beautiful day (the temperature is about 7 degrees Celsius now), and it seemed that everybody was out at their cabins enjoying the fine weather. Now that the ice is almost gone, the muskox are down by the river and wildflowers are beginning to bloom. I never knew rocks and moss could be so beautiful, but that is basically all that the tundra is, and boy, is it gorgeous! On the back of her four-wheeler, I caught myself grinning at all I saw, which unfortunately made for a very gritty mouth.

Moss, lichens, rocks and wildflowers

We hiked up Mount Pelly to the very top, encountering a hunting fort on the way up! I'm sure there's a more official name for it than "hunting fort", but regardless of its name, it's basically a stone wall that people hid behind while waiting for caribou and muskox to come along. Mount Pelly is known to be a popular muskox 'resort' of sorts, since it is home to lots of yummy plants for them to eat. At the top, there is a World War II memorial to all of the Inuit who served.

From the hunting fort...to the top!

The view from the side of Mount Pelly. Just a few weeks ago, all that land was covered in ice!

On our way back to town, we swung by Old Town, which is home to the old stone church, the Eagle, the radio tower (which has its own Wikipedia page!), the (failed) wind farm and the Maud. The Maud is a shipwreck that is visible only during the summer when the ice melts. She was meant to sail the Northeast passage, but in her later years she supplied goods to trading outposts instead. She got stuck in the ice at Cambridge Bay in 1926 and sunk in 1930. All that remains is the bottom of the boat; the wood was all picked off by locals (wood is a precious commodity in the Arctic!).

Lisa took me right underneath the tower! We are not afraid of danger! : )

Money, Money, Money...

I have very little of interest to write about today, at least concerning my personal adventures, since I spent the majority of the day on the couch recovering.

I walked into town to do some grocery shopping in the middle of the day, and stopped by the library afterwards to help with the "redesign". Our "redesign" consisted of moving the entire children's section and the librarian's desk, as well as dusting, removing labels from shelves, vacuuming and other odd jobs. We are hoping that these adjustments will make the library look more professional and spacious.

Dee vacuums while redesigning

My dad and I collect coins, so I spent part of the day collecting my loose change to see which I could contribute to our cause. I observed that unlike American coins, which have a different "head" for each coin value, Canadian coins always have a picture of the Queen on the front. However, there are several versions of the Queen's picture, because it is updated when deemed necessary. Here's a great website about Canadian currency, with great pictures of the coin "tails". Of course, if you want to know absolutely everything about Canadian currency, check out this Wikipedia site. It's very informative!

My favorite thing about money here is that Canadians call their dollar coin a "loonie" because of the loonie bird, and their two-dollar coin a "toonie". As my good friend Jacques says, "Who can take Canadian money seriously when we call it loonies and toonies?!" : )

A Most Depressing Post

Today was probably the most boring day that I have had since being in Cambridge Bay. "Why is that?" you ask? Well, today, I stayed home from work because I am sick. Yes, I do have the basic symptoms of the swine flu. And yes, lots of people in town are sick, though I haven't heard that there have been any confirmed cases in Cambridge Bay yet. Yay for pandemics. No worries, though; I don't have any of the "If you have the following symptoms, go to the doctor immediately!" symptoms. I just hope I get better before I go through customs!

Here's an article that claims Nunavut's high number of swine flu cases is due to extensive testing.

Because of all the video problems and barbecue yesterday, I forgot to write about an important piece of news. Pia came into the Heritage Society yesterday afternoon, saying, "Did you hear? There was a suicide this morning."

Though none of us knew the woman, we all knew her biological son; a 10th grade boy I met working in Jacques' shop. Quiet and shy, he has sparkling eyes and a ready smile, and my heart went out to him. He has never lived with his mother, but that does not lessen the grief he must be feeling. A solemn mood passed over the room...

for a few minutes. Then, everything returned to normal. We went back to getting ready for the barbecue and I started to work on my video again. In fact, we pretty much forgot about it for the rest of the day.

Later yesterday night, Renee reflected back, saying, "You know, the fact that we all just returned to work so quickly shows you how desensitized this community is to death now." In the past six months, at least ten deaths have occurred in Cambridge Bay. Probably only half of them occurred naturally. Renee said Julian's (the boy who committed suicide from jumping from a plane) death shook the community for several days; that all of Cambridge Bay became like a ghosttown. After experiencing that kind of grief, what can shock them?

Here's a happy picture to make up for the bad news! This is Pia's son, Waylon, trying on her sunglasses.

"In the Future it Will Change"

Renee helps one of the kids with his hotdog at the barbecue

Happy belated Aboriginal Day! To celebrate, the Heritage Society held a barbecue, where people could come to hang out with their neighbors and get free food, of course! The event was held at the Youth Centre, so most of the clientele was kids...very hungry kids! : ) I cannot tell you how pleased I am that the Youth Centre reopened. During the summer, there is not much for kids to do. All of the kids not yet old enough to work complain that they are bored and want to go back to school. The Youth Centre is a wonderful chance for them to socialize in a healthy environment.

At the beginning, it took me a while to realize that the Heritage Society's camera only works with Mac computers. When I figured it out, I tried unsuccessfully to load the video onto my PC. I resigned myself to working with iMovie, a tedious and frustrating video-editing software. After a few weeks of figuring out the program, I got the recycling video together. We were supposed to premiere it at the barbecue today, but then remembered that the projector doesn't work with Mac computers. After several attempts to burn the video to a CD, I finally gave up.

It is probably better that we didn't announce to the community that the director of a local company was donating a shed to house the recyclables. Earlier today, we walked over to his office to discover that he had quit the day before. Also, the lady who is in charge of approving land use permits is leaving tomorrow, so since the new director couldn't commit, it looks doubtful that I'll be able to get the permit approved by the time I leave.

I have told you all of the challenges I encountered because they have culminated to one of the summer's biggest life lessons: where there's a will, there's a way. It is a trite statement, perhaps, but never before has it applied to my life than now. I knew before I started the project that it would probably not be comleted before I left. Now that I only have about a week left in Cambridge Bay, I am forced to think about the feasibility of this project in the long term. I must face the unfortunate possibility that it will never be completed. Over the next few days, I will write up directions for how the project should work, including contact information of the businesses involved and suggestions for future improvements.

You see, I don't want to be another outsider that comes into Cambridge Bay with a great idea, gets everyone excited about it and then leaves without seeing it through. Granted, by this point in the life of the community, it is very difficult for them get excited about any new ideas, since they have seen so many broken promises in the past. The last thing I want to do is break my promise to the kids and this community.

Nigel really enjoyed his hotdog!

I hope that this project is completed simply because I want the kids to know that they have the power to change their community! Yesterday, I sent a message via facebook to one of the guys who I filmed for the video, thanking him for his participation. This is part of what he wrote:

"Thank you for the opportunity of getting us into recycling and going green. We finally have the part of the community on our side, I hope this changes the community. Now we wait and observe the town. In the future it will change. "

If nothing else, I hope that during my brief stay here I communicated to the kids how strong I think they are. Hopefully, the video will convey the idea that it only takes a few people to better a community, and that if they are passionate about something, they should pursue that passion.

I want a hat like Nigel's!

Fist Pumps for Recycling

Today was mostly spent shopping for supplies for tomorrow's Aboriginal Day celebration barbecue at the Youth Centre. I have been working on the environmental video all day, which meant I got to see some of the environmental students outside of school in their element (a.k.a. at work).

I headed to the Northern to film Logi, who works there from 10am-7pm every day. Then, I went off to the Quik Stop, where I filmed Gary, Colin and Eric doing some fist pumps for recycling. Tracy was also there, so I asked her to make a few comments about the health effects of burning waste. It was quite a productive day, and I have spent the rest of the day editing the video.

I got a little antsy later today, so I decided to poke around in the storeroom (see pictures below).

Wolverine attack!

The Big, Bad Wolf

I also spent part of the day helping Brendan adjust a display for the Heritage Society. It is a beautiful model of a longhouse and campsite. Unfortunately, the back part of the display kept falling over, so Brendan had to take apart the display case to fix it. I'll try to get a picture of it on here soon!