Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services

Cape Dorset (Sep 26/05) - Cape Dorset does not have shopping malls like Halifax, N.S., but Wakta Pwotoogoo isn't complaining, much.

Pwotoogoo spent July in Lower Sackville - just outside Halifax - working with the Victorian Order of Nurses as a part of the Nunavut Youth Abroad Program.

"I'll miss going to the malls and getting to go to the beach," said Pwotoogoo, an 18-year-old high school graduate.

She learned "how to be independent from my family" during her trip, but not too independent.

Her mother Oloosie Pwotoogoo and her father Qavavau Pwotoogoo were happy to get her back. So were her six sisters and one brother.

"We get along well, but we do fight a little bit," admitted Pwotoogoo. She didn't think that her brother - the only boy with seven sisters - was picked on too much by his pack of sisters.

When she returned to Cape Dorset, she thought it "was a little cold, and a little weird, with no mall."

Pwotoogoo had no problem getting settled back home, and her office skills landed her a job almost immediately.

She handled filing and other clerical duties for the Victorian Order of Nurses while visiting Nova Scotia. Upon her return home, she was hired by the Community Healing Team to do the same.

Before seeing Nova Scotia, she spent a week in Ottawa learning about the Nunavut Youth Abroad program.

"I like it (Ottawa). It's a great city. We had to make presentations and meet new people," said Pwotoogoo.

If things work out as planned, Pwotoogoo will be joining Nunavut Youth Abroad in Africa next year, as a part of their annual trip.

She recommends the program for other young people.

"Yes, they should apply, it's a great program."