In search of aid
Inuit Express makes quick stop in Yk searching for Russian aid

Doug Ashbury
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 08/99) - Living in the Russian Arctic can, at the best of times, be challenging. But for Inuit, Chukchi and Yupick of Chukotka, the situation has become critical.

To respond, a team made up of Canadian Red Cross, Canadian International Development Agency, Inuit Circumpolar Conference and federal government representatives are taking humanitarian aid to the impoverished easternmost region of the Russian Arctic.

The group were in Yellowknife for about 45 minutes Tuesday as their First Air-chartered Boeing 727, dubbed the Inuit Express, stopped to refuel. The jet departed from Ottawa Tuesday morning. First Air is a Makivik company. Makivik represents the Inuit of Northern Quebec.

The 727, loaded with $500,000 worth of supplies, flew to Anchorage, then on to Anadyr, Russia.

From Anadyr, the supplies, including 540 boxes of food, 30 boxes of blankets and three medical kits, will be airlifted by small plane and helicopter to the communities of Serenniki, Yakrakynkot and Enurmino.

"We are expecting to find significant privation," Terry Fenge, Inuit Circumpolar Conference research director, said Tuesday at Yellowknife Airport.

"People (in the Chukotka region of Arctic Russia) don't have food to eat. They lack the basic staples," he said.

"We hope this will complement the existing meat diet," of the people of the Chukotka region, he said.

Fenge and the rest of the group will likely encounter temperatures around -50C in Chukotka.

The ICC has done international development work but this will be the first time it has been involved with a humanitarian aid project like this, Fenge adds.

"Life is always difficult (in remote regions)," said Judith Lavoie, a Canadian Red Cross representative on the mission.

But shortages and economic problems in Russia have heightened the severity of the situation, she said.

Canadian aid, to be delivered during the Russian Orthodox Christmas season, is likely to be followed in February and March by additional, larger supplies targeted to communities in Kamchatka and Magadan as well as Chukotka.

Money to purchase and deliver supplies has been provided by CIDA. The team planning monitoring and delivery of aid also includes people with Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Foreign Affairs and International Trade.