PAULATUK - Every time the phone rings, Annie Wolki gets a little shaky. She hopes it's her daughter, and prays it's not someone else calling on her behalf.

Esther Wolki, pictured on her most recent trip home to Paulatuk in August, is currently serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces. Paulatuk veteran Andy Green's son, Matthew, is also completing a tour there. - Katie May/NNSL photo

Twenty-four-year-old Esther Wolki, Annie's youngest daughter, is an artillery solider currently serving in Afghanistan. She deployed in October and for the past two months her mother has anxiously awaited weekly phone calls from her the way only a mother could.

A week is the longest. If it takes longer than a week then I'll start getting really worried here," Annie said. "Sometimes we give a message on the radio here in Paulatuk to her friends and family, that she's doing good."

Hearing Esther's voice on the phone and watching her correspond with her older sister via video chat helps, but Annie said it's still hard to cope knowing her daughter might be in danger.

"It's really, really hard. Me and her, we had our ups and downs, like I'm telling her 'don't go down there. You could be something else in the army," Annie said. "(Now) I've got no choice but to back her up and stand behind her."

"I keep telling my nephews and nieces here, 'try to be like Esther. Finish your schooling and be somebody.'"

Things have been a little easier for Annie and her family since they met Andy Green, a 24-year Canadian Armed Forces veteran from Paulatuk. Green's son Matthew, 25, is also serving in Afghanistan and his older son Nathan recently returned from his second tour there. Green hadn't been back in his hometown for more than 30 years, having served overseas in places such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Africa, but as soon as he heard Esther was being deployed, he headed over to meet Annie, hoping to put her mind at ease.

"I was trying to give some comfort in the fact that (Canadian soldiers are) well-prepared," Green said. "We said 'OK, once we get word from either Esther or Matthew, we'd be able to then talk to one another and say hey, we heard from them and they're doing good.' That obviously made us feel better."

Green said the entire community has rallied around the two families and has been sending care packages for Esther and Matthew, who was born in North Bay, Ont.

"The community itself, they've definitely picked up on the fact that we have two members in the Forces and they're very proud of it," Green said. "Although they have not met Matthew personally, they've sent quite a few personal things to him down there."

Green said his own military career experience makes him especially proud that two of his five children decided to enlist, but he still worries about Matthew.

"I worry about him every day and I get a little excited when news comes up about anything in Afghanistan. I'm worried for both of them because I know how dangerous it is for them there in harm's way," he said.

"Definitely I understand that he has to carry out his duty and obviously he's there for a reason and he believes in it, therefore although I'm concerned over it, I believe in my son and I believe in Esther to do her duty."

Matthew is currently about halfway through his six-month tour, and Esther is scheduled to make a brief stop in Winnipeg in January before returning to Afganistan to finish her tour.