Hi,
Well it finally happened. Monday was clear and sunny and I boarded a nine passenger plane in Kotzebue and made the one hour, approximately 100 mile trip inland to Ambler. This is one of our smaller villages with about 350 people living there. I was a bit concerned as I had only flown in a small plane once before. I have to say that apart from getting in the door and down the aisle, it is more comfortable than the big jets. The plane out was a single engine plane with the baggage compartment slung below the fuselage. The floors were simple wooden planks and the return flight was made in a twin engine eight passenger plane in which my back was flat against the ceiling as I walked down the aisle. I loved the flights as being unpressurized, the planes don't fly that high and the views are spectacular. On the flights we passed over the other side of the peninsula that Kotzebue sits on. Flying over this part of the sound we were able to look down at the huge pressure ridge that runs as far as the eye can see. Right at the ridge we could see open water around it. The flight through the interior of the Arctic roughly follows the path of the wide Kobuk River. This is where a number of our villages lie with Ambler being the furthest. On the way home we landed at three other villages which allowed me a more in-depth glimpse into life in the real bush. I had to chuckle as the pilot at each stop after shutting down the engines would climb out the window beside his seat feet first. When he came back aboard it was butt first through the same window. On the approach to Ambler Monday we flew over a heard of about 300 caribou, and moose tracks were visible everywhere you looked. Going and coming we also passed over the area of the Kobuk sand dunes which is now a National park. That's right, a desert of sand in the Arctic. I can write numerous adjectives trying to describe the sights and feelings I had but they would sound redundant by now and none would come close. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well if that's the case take a look at the pictures I posted on the web of the trip under, "Trip to the village of Ambler" in photos of 2004. www.samsicles.net I will say that sitting there looking at what few have seen, I could not believe how blessed we are. My flight, room, and board were not only paid for, I was getting paid to do what it costs tourists thousands of dollars to do! I cannot express how glad I am we chose to take the chance we did and to make the move here.
When we made the reservations we were told we had to fly in and out of Ambler in the mornings when the runway was frozen. In the evening after it warmed up, the runway would thaw out and be to soft to land and take off. Betty and Bruce, both long time Public Health Nurses, each had stories about pushing planes out of mud and Bruce related one about when he spent a couple of hours with credit cards scraping ice off the wings so they could fly. We had no problems on the flight in or when I left four days later.
On arrival in Ambler we were met by a snowmachine pulling a basket sled. The operator tossed our gear into the sled and I hopped on the back of the machine. Betty rode in the sled for the mile ride to town. We spent that day and the part of the following days at the school doing screenings for TB, scoliosis, diabetes, blood pressures, and blood counts on select students. The school contains students from pre-kindergarten to the 12th grade. Each grade being in separate rooms of course. There were approximately 90 students in the school and on the whole most were friendly, especially the younger ones. The older kids, like teenagers everywhere tended to be a bit more subdued and sullen, but most were friendly. Betty told Patty I enjoyed the working with the young kids and she's right, although I had to tell them they are ruining my reputation as a mean old bear.
I was in town for three nights, from Monday morning until Thursday morning. Betty left Wednesday morning. We slept at the clinic which is a new building containing three treatment rooms, a trauma room with the telemed setup, an eye room, and a dental room complete with dental x-ray. Different types of doctors visit the clinic at scheduled times throughout the year. CHAPS run the clinic on a day to day basis. These are Community Health Aid Practitioners. They are trained individuals from the village who have standing orders for dispensing medications, doing different types of treatments, suturing and wound care, and many other tasks. They can evaluate a patient, then fax in the info to the doctor on radio call in Kotzebue for treatment orders. For more serious cases they have the telemed so they can either take and relay pictures, or the MD can evaluate the patient live on video and audio. The clinic also contains two bedrooms, a shower, and a kitchen/lounge area which we partook of with pleasure.
We had the option of eating with the students at breakfast and lunch, or eating food we had brought or purchased locally. Each evening we went to the Kobuk lodge for dinner. This is a small store that also had a grill and served great burgers and onion rings. For this we are paid a daily allowance.
While there I did not walk to far as the roads were still covered with ice. In the morning it was frozen and slick while in the evening it was soft and like walking in sand-real tough on the calf's and legs. The view was almost 365 degrees however and it was not necessary to go far. There were trees as far as the eye could see with snow capped mountain peaks on three sides. We relaxed in the evenings in the clinic watching the eight channels available. While sitting there one evening I was greeted by the site outside the window of a snowmachine going by pulling a tremendous log sitting on two small, twin ski sleds. Also all fuel is flown into town and I noted there were a few sleds with large square fuel tanks on them.
It did snow while I was there on two of the four days. One of the snowfalls had flakes as big as cotton balls coming down and that is not an exaggeration. I have not grown tired of it yet. To me it is still magical looking out at gently falling snow and in Ambler I had the added treat of the trees being given a frosted coating.
The main means of communication in the town is by VHF radio. Each home and business has one with each villager having their own number. While we were there the CHAPS used it to contact families we were unable to contact by phone to tell them we were in town and doing immunizations at the clinic. (This was in addition to the school screenings we were doing.) On my last day in town a student contacted his dad by VHF to ask him to bring in his bookbag which he "forgot". Kids are kids no matter where they are.
There was another person with us who works for the school board doing the child find program-looking for problems before they get out of hand. She has been doing this for a few years and I asked about why many kids move from village to village, seemingly trying to get lost in the system. She told me that in the old days the villagers lived in mud huts built into the earth. This is fine as long as it is frozen out but when the thaw comes these would flood. So the people were nomads, following the caribou and fish up and down the rivers and coasts. She says it was the white man who came along and set up the permanent settlements. Many families still follow the old traditional ways and are somewhat nomadic. This is the reason some kids are always on the move.
One other thing I noticed while there. The average age of nurses today is 45 and we have a lot of nurses here either there, or over that. The average age of the teachers at the school was 50-55. What does this mean for the future of the youngsters here? What's going to happen in the next 10 to 20 years?
On a different note, spring whaling has started in Barrow and Point Hope with both having luck taking early whales. However in Point Hope a whaler's boat that was coming in with a beluga whale, took on water and sank with the loss of the operator. This once again brings home the lesson that no trip in this land is routine and caution must always be paramount.
In one of my last letters I may have sounded a bit sullen about not getting replies from some folks. For this I apologize as I realize I write not for the response but because I enjoy it so. I hope you do too.
Take care all,
Carlo
PS I almost forgot to mention that the act of sale on the house I mentioned occurred while I was away. We are now the owners of a two story, three bedroom, two and a half bath home in a upscale neighborhood in Anchorage. Donations are welcome, I may soon be in the poor house. Hope my daughter enjoys it.
For problems or questions regarding this web contact
carlo@samsicles.net
Last updated:
08/29/05