Experiencing "Summer in the South"
When Denise Malliki returns to Repulse Bay, Nunavut, later this month, she knows she'll be inundated with questions from her family and friends.
"They ask a lot of questions," says the 16-year-old high school student. "How was it, did you have fun, did you make new friends, was it hard, was it easy?"
And after little more than half of her six-week volunteer work placement in Ontario, as part of the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program (NYAP), she was certain of her response.
"It was fun; you should try it and see how it is. You will learn lots and know more than you know now... They will see what they have not seen in real life before."
The NYAP was designed to meet the specific needs of Nunavut youth aged 16 to 21. The 10-month program involves academic work, community fund raising, presentation making, workplace training, a volunteer work placement, and opportunities to live in southern Canada and abroad for six to eight weeks.
Ms. Malliki is working with Trent University research associate Dr. Gordon Balch and Dr. Chris Metcalfe as well as Dr. Susan Sang of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who are together studying selected Arctic wildlife and the potential impact that contaminants and climate change may be imposing on animal health. And like Ms. Malliki's friends and family, Dr. Balch also has questions for her. The answers and Ms. Malliki's insight will assist the research team, as its members consult with northern community members - an integral part of this project.
Dr. Balch and Dr. Metcalfe, of Trent's Environmental Resources Studies department, are working to develop baseline data on animal health - based on Inuit hunters' perceptions. Their concern, and the basis for the Nunavut Wildlife Assessment Project, is that contaminants used in southern Canada are found in Arctic wildlife and together with the stresses associated with climate change, may gradually affect the wildlife's ability to adapt to a changing environment. More specifically, professors Balch and Metcalfe are investigating how these chemicals influence the health of marine mammals in the arctic. The baseline data generated from this project will provide a benchmark useful in future studies - 15 to 20 years from now. The data will be used to monitor subtle changes in wildlife health, such as the prevalence of certain pathogens.
"Changes in wildlife health, if occurring, may be gradual and therefore difficult to detect without the involvement of hunters who are in daily contact with wildlife over a vast regions of the north," says Dr. Balch. "To date, only a limited number of investigations have been devoted to studying wildlife health and, of those conducted, most are best suited for identifying only the very obvious changes in health.
"Hunters have been voicing concerns over the past few years and saying they're seeing an increase in parasites and other anomalies that they haven't noticed in the past."
Dr. Balch is trying to answer the questions posed by the hunters and to tell the people of Nunavut about his research and its importance to the future health of wildlife. But there are communication barriers - among them, the language. For example, there is no direct translation of the word 'contaminant' in Inuktitut.
"We have to find the right words so everybody understands," says Dr. Balch, adding his research depends on this communication. "This (NYAP exchange) is our way of having the two cultures mix a little more... It takes longer than the one week each year that we're there, to develop trust and respect, to understand how the north works and how best to work together."
That's where Ms. Malliki comes in. She's finding Dr. Balch's research interesting, and clearly sees that communication is the key.
"It's hard to understand the big words we haven't heard," she says.
During her time at Trent, Ms. Malliki will be working with Dr. Balch on a PowerPoint presentation to be shown at a conference for Nunavut teachers in Iqaluit in February 2005. The presentation and its supporting resources for teachers will be one more method for communicating this information to Northerners and their students who will one day be future leaders. Ms. Malliki also spent a week with the WWF in Toronto to learn more about various aspects of communication, such as the importance of enlisting financial supporters and the communication of results to policy makers.
As another part of her project, Ms. Malliki, who aspires to become a nurse, is working to document "life in the south" - something she says is similar to what she sees on television. And while initially, she says it isn't incredibly different than what she experiences in Nunavut, the contrast soon becomes clear.
Ms. Malliki says she first noticed that most people don't go home for lunch; in her hometown of about 700, everyone goes home for lunch. There are few cars and trucks in Repulse Bay, but instead, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. Generators are used for electricity and in contrast to burgeoning subdivisions, an average of five houses are constructed each year. The town's health centre hosts a doctor and dentist on a quarterly basis.
"I wanted to experience how it is to be in the south for the summer... see different cultures and meet new friends; it's a once in a lifetime opportunity," says Ms. Malliki, who is one of few women in her community to have her own dog racing team.
While the dogs can be trained in the summer, Ms. Malliki says there's not much else to do this time of year in Repulse Bay. In Peterborough, Ms. Malliki has had a number of new experiences with her host family Brian and Nancy Nashman, including a concert, trips to the farmer's market, movies and a museum, as well as a canoe ride. And with only two stores in Repulse Bay, shopping has also been a highlight. Trent is the first university that Ms. Malliki has visited and whether she'll return to study or to visit, she says she's not sure.
Ms. Malliki is one of 16 NYAP participants visiting Ontario and British Columbia this summer. The students will regroup in Ottawa August 9, before heading home.
