Attawapiskat Trip – First Impressions

On Friday, December 15^th my husband, Sylvain, and I boarded our flight for Attawapiskat, leaving a balmy 9 degrees behind us in Ottawa and wondering if we would have a green Christmas after all.  Ten days till Christmas – and where was winter?

We soon found that out – as we flew over the remote First Nation community of Attawapiskat in northern Ontario, looking down at nothing but a stark scene of ice and snow!  Biting winds and temperatures that were in the minus 30’s (F) greeted us.  What a timely privilege we had to be on the forefront of the food, winter clothing and supplies being sent from True North Aid!

We didn’t have to look far to understand the worrisome and, indeed, life threatening conditions that many of the residents were facing as temperatures threatened their ominous drop to extreme levels.

As we drove from the small airport to the room we were staying in, we were flagged on both sides by shacks and trailers where many of the 1,800 residents lived.  If this scene was not heartbreaking enough, dotted between were small tents with no plumbing or running water.  Poking through the plastic coverings of the tents were stovepipes belching out black smoke.

Our first exposure, only touching the surface of this community, made it blatantly clear why they had declared a state of emergency in October.  We were compelled by the need … and thankful that True North Aid was able to be an avenue of the help provided by so many faithful supporters.

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  True North Aid, Box 7007 Station V
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  Telephone: 613-410-5050 Email: info@truenorthaid.ca