New program brings fresh water from the land
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Rankin Inlet (Feb 14/01) - Elders in Rankin Inlet are getting a fresh start to their days courtesy of thePaulaarvik Kablu Friendship Centre.
Centre staff began a program in early January to provide ice for fresh drinking water for those who request it.
Youth co-ordinator Noah Tiktak says the program is a big hit with elders who prefer their water from the land, not a tap.
"Where people down south grew up drinking milk, our elders grew up drinking fresh water," says Tiktak.
"The tap water just isn't the same for the elders. The chlorine the hamlet has to add to the water makes tea dark and unpleasant to the taste for them."
Tiktak says the friendship centre submitted a proposal for a pilot project last year, which wasn't accepted.
He says the centre's May Cameron made some changes to the original proposal for community funding and resubmitted it this year.
It was approved and now the centre has a three-month pilot project until the end of March.
Tiktak says three men go out together on their snowmobiles to retrieve the ice, taking along qamutiks, axes and ice chisels.
The men were originally getting the ice at Meliadine Lake, but overflow removed the cracks in the ice and now they travel to Second Landing Lake to fill up their qamutiks.
Tiktak calls in three part-time workers to accompany him when the calls come in for more ice.
"We get lots of ice on one trip. On average, I'd say enough for 15 families at one time, which is three loads. We divide the ice up once we're back and deliver it to the people who call in requesting it."
Tiktak says news of the program has spread through the hamlet and many elders now consider themselves regular stops for the ice brigade.
"We bring the ice to anyone who requests it and the number of elders who are aware of the program is growing There are others who don't call in every time, but they expect us to drop their ice off to them."
