Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Aug 08/03) - They might be twins but Audrey Giles insists she and her sister don't look that much alike. To their chagrin, the two are often mistaken for each other in the Deh Cho.

Looks aside, they share many things in common, including a penchant for learning about the North and helping its residents.

Sarah Giles, left, and twin sister Audrey have spent several summers in the NWT. This year they are accompanied by their pet guinea pigs, Bear, left, and Panther. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo /TD>

Hailing from Toronto, the 25-year-old sisters are engaged in a friendly competition to see who can become a doctor first.

Audrey, working on her Ph.D. in the anthropology of sports and recreation at the University of Alberta, claims to have the inside track. Her focus is women's involvement in traditional Dene games. She spent two years in Trout Lake conducting research and is now living in Jean Marie River.

"Everyone in the NWT is very supportive of my research efforts," Audrey said.

Sarah is a third-year medical student at Dalhousie University in Halifax. She is spending her summer as a volunteer at the Fort Simpson Health Centre.

"I think if I'm going to be here, I'm going to be useful," said Sarah.

Having shadowed Dr. Shane Barclay, Sarah noted that she is in awe of his ability to deal with all realms of medicine. She added that the nurses are "fantastic."

The Giles sisters started coming to the NWT in 1998 as swimming instructors. Audrey was based in Cape Dorset while Sarah ran an outdoor program in the "cold water" at Colville Lake. That summer made them aware of the need for sporting equipment in the North.

They subsequently organized the Sporting Partnership of Universities and Northern Communities (SPUNC). Through that program, more than 4,000 lbs of used sporting equipment from high schools and post-secondary institutions has been shipped to 14 Northern communities over the past four years.

While in Trout Lake a couple of years ago, Audrey reached for a volleyball to start a game with the local children. The ball had Sambaa K'e Dene band scrawled on one side and Dalhousie University written on the opposite side.

"It's pretty cool when you realize that the (equipment) does get there and it's being used," she said.