Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services

Grise Fiord (Sep 07/01) - Inger-Lise Christensen is an active and employed single mom. She insists she is not exceptional. Yet clearly she is. Born with cerebral palsy, Christensen won't let her disability derail her dreams.

Inger-Lise Christensen and her three-year old son Olaf. - photo courtesy of Inger-Lise Christensen

News/North: You're 26, a wellness counsellor, mother of an active three-year-old boy and a hamlet councillor. Is this where you thought you'd be 10 years ago?

Inger-Lise Christensen: No. Ten years ago my family and I were paying more attention to my physical care. Getting operations.

N/N: Cerebral palsy does not degenerate -- get worse -- does it?

ILC: No. I don't get better and I don't get worse. This is just the way I am.

N/N: How many operations did you undergo?

ILC: Seven or 10 (laughs). They wanted to give me as many operations as I could handle when I was young. All on my legs. Nothing higher than my hip. Plates and screws for my bones and muscle.

N/N: You moved to Ottawa alone in 1994 to attend Nunavut Sivuniksavut. How did that program change you life?

ILC: I could not have accomplished as much as I have today. If had gone straight to college or university I wouldn't have succeeded. During my eight months there I learned to be independent.

N/N: From there you went to college?

ILC: I studied family studies.

N/N: Then you studied health and wellness?

ILC: No, I took a year off to have my son, Olaf. Then I went into a social services program. He's named after my dad, who died in 1997. That's another reason I took the year off. To fix up his papers and do all that executive stuff.

N/N: Your dad, Olaf Christensen, is remembered fondly in Iqaluit. Who was he?

ILC: He worked for the department of public works. He was a go-to-work type of guy.

N/N: And known for his strong convictions?

ILC: Very stubborn and blunt.

N/N: Like you?

ILC: I'm stubborn but I don't have his bluntness, yet. My mom says she sees his personality in me. He liked to argue, either at work or with the health board. He wanted things to be equal for people.

N/N: How is Olaf junior like your dad?

ILC: He's a spitting image. It's freaky. I have brown hair and brown eyes, so does his father. But Olaf was born with blonde hair and blue eyes. People say he looks very European. I do a lot of travelling to Iqaluit and I wish I could bring him and show him off to the people who knew my father.

N/N: What about Olaf's personality?

ILC: Stubborn. We go for scooter rides and he insists on driving.

N/N: Do you plan to have more children?

ILC: I want to but I don't see it happening anytime soon. If I don't that's okay.

N/N: You've been a wellness worker in Grise Fiord for a year. What's your job?

ILC: I do mental health and emotional well-being presentations in school. And counselling. Sometimes I report to our social services worker. I don't do child welfare.

N/N: What do you enjoy most about your job?

ILC: It changes every single day. I like being depended on. When kids tell me about their day and they know I'm here. I like working with youth. We don't have that much to do here recreation wise. Sometimes kids come over for coffee and pick through my CD collection.

N/N: How does your disability add to your work as a wellness worker?

ILC: It doesn't pull me down. My physical disability does not prevent me from doing things. Everyone has setbacks. If I was not disabled, something else would set me back. I am strong because I'm strong, not because I'm overcoming a disability.

A negative aspect is sometimes people don't take me seriously. Maybe they think because I'm physically disabled that I'm mentally disabled.

N/N: Do you see yourself as a role model?

ILC: I don't want to be a hero. I'm not someone who just comes in during a crisis and is not there when things calm down. I want to be there through good times and bad times.

N/N: Who are your role models?

ILC: My father, my mother Minnie Killiktee, my brother Christian. All of my family play an important role in my life.

N/N: How many brothers and sisters do you have?

ILC: I have a little adopted sister, one little brother and two older brothers.

N/N: How long have you been a hamlet councillor?

ILC: Since January.

N/N: What do you like about that role?

ILC: That people elected me and trust in me to work for them.

N/N: Any plans to become mayor?

ILC: Absolutely not. I don't want to jump too high too fast.

N/N: You've accomplished many things in such a short time. What's next?

ILC: I'm still thinking about it. Maybe in a couple years I'll move up to another position but in the same field. I want people to get to know me instead of my disability and that may take until I'm 100 (laughs).

N/N: Is it a good life?

ILC: Oh, yes. I still have ups and downs, but that's just like everybody else. I have no problem at all with my disability. I don't worry about it but other people do. I wish they wouldn't.