Students on Ice depart from Kuujjuaq

Jonathan Epoo, president of Nunavik’s Saputiit youth association, grilled up hamburgers and hotdogs for participants in the Students on Ice cruise in Kuujjuaq on July 31 before they set out on a 12-day voyage up the coast of Baffin Island. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB MESHER)

More than 60 youth, members of the annual Students-on-Ice cruise to the Arctic, descended on Kuujjuaq July 31 before beginning their two-week trip along the coast of Baffin Island.

Students on Ice is an organization that offers educational expeditions to the Antarctic and the Arctic.

In Kuujjuaq, the students walked around the community, with local youth as guides.

Then they returned to the Kaittitavik town hall for a BBQ of hamburgers and hotdogs, served up by Jonathan Epoo, the recently-elected president of Nunavik’s Saputiit youth association.

After introducing other local members of Saputiit to the audience, Epoo talked to them about the importance of the climate change for northern residents.

Kuujjuaq Mayor Larry Watt, Barrie Ford of the Nunavik Research Center, and Michael Gordon, Makivik Corp.’s vice-president, also welcomed the students to to Kuujjuaq and wished them well on their journey north.

Along for the trip are 65 students, aged 14 to 19, as well as a team of 45 scientists, polar experts, educators, artists, leaders, writers, innovators and environmentalists.

The team includes more than 20 northern youth, as well as student participants from Monaco, the United States and every Canadian province and territory.

The mandate of Students on Ice is to provide students, educators and scientists “with inspiring educational opportunities at the ends of the Earth and, in doing so, help them foster a new understanding and respect for the planet.”

The group is expected to disembark at Iqaluit in mid-August following their trip along the Baffin coast.

To follow the trip, go to www.studentsonice.com/arctic2009/index.html

Young participants in this year’s Students on Ice cruise snap photos of a stray dog in Kuujjuaq — a sure sign that they don’t come from the community. (PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB MESHER)