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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
When Operation Beaver volunteer Sara Gordon came to Nahanni Butte in September, she was nervous about what she was going to see.

Operation Beaver volunteer Sara Gordon, 27, came to Nahanni Butte as part of Frontiers Foundation, a non-profit voluntary service organization. During her time in the community, she will be performing secretarial duties, tutoring and substituting at the school if needed. - photo courtesy of Sara Gordon

Before leaving she had anxiously been following the news reports about the flood, which forced most of the community to evacuate on June 9, and didn't know what to expect in terms of the community's recovery.

"All I had to go on was aerial photographs of water with little roofs sticking out," she said, adding the situation was better by the time she arrived. "The people seem resilient."

Gordon, 27, came to Nahanni Butte with Frontiers Foundation, a non-profit aboriginal voluntary service organization. During her time in the community, she will be helping the school with secretarial duties, tutoring and substituting if needed. She is also running the after-school program two or three times a week.

The community, she said, is a lot smaller than what she is used to but she is really enjoying the experience. Gordon grew up in London, Ont., which has a population of about 350,000.

"I decided that I'm more of a small town girl. Nahanni Butte is a little more comfortable in that respect than London is," she said. "I don't like big crowds."

Gordon was originally supposed to be stationed in Hay River but circumstances allowed her to choose one of the smaller communities to visit instead. She settled on Nahanni Butte.

"I had heard fantastic things about the park and I wanted to be close to the nature aspect of it," she said. "I really like waking up every morning and seeing a mountain, which is now covered in snow."

In her down time, Gordon enjoys canoeing, hiking, cross country skiing, drawing, knitting and crocheting because, she said, she is an "old woman at heart."

Gordon has a bachelor of arts in criminology with a minor in French from Western University and a diploma in outdoor adventure from Algonquin College. She worked at a Scout camp for the past two summers as a counsellor and a lifeguard. Gordon also had a job as an outfitter at Killarney Provincial Park in Ontario.

Gordon had never been to Canada's North before coming to Nahanni Butte.

"The territories is something I was always interested in going to and (Frontiers Foundation) just kind of gave me the opportunity to do that."

Gordon will be volunteering in the community until the end of the school year in June.

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