whale of a trip

Aug. 5, 2007

By tiffany horvath/For the Frontiersman

PALMER - Take 17 people from the Mat-Su Valley, including 10 teenagers, and put them in a small house with one working toilet and no shower in a small, Inupiaq village in northern Alaska and expect all of the above to get along for 10 days.

That's just what the Senior High Youth Group from the United Protestant Church in downtown Palmer did for the last two weeks of July.

In addition to exploring the area, the teens taught vacation Bible school in the afternoons to any children interested in participating and held nightly youth gatherings for area teenagers.

The group first began planning for its trip in January, when it decided to forgo the usual mission trip to Mexico in favor of a trip to a partner church in rural Alaska. The group typically embarks on a mission trip every other year.

&#8220The Presbytery of the Yukon tries to pair a church on the road system in Alaska with a church in the Bush,” said UPC co-pastor Leisa Carrick. &#8220Our Palmer church was paired with the Olgonik Presbyterian Church in Wainwright, and our youth group decided they wanted to be a part of that this year instead of Mexico.”

Carrick, whose husband Tim Carrick is the other pastor of the Palmer church, commented that tickets to Mexico probably would have been cheaper.

To prepare for the trip and what they would be doing, each teen was expected to be an assistant to an adult vacation Bible school teacher when the UPC held it's own annual school in early June. The youths did this with the expectation that once in Wainwright, they would be the class teachers.

The theme was &#8220Great Bible Reef” and the Valley youths brought everything from leis to a 5-foot cardboard seahorse to enhance their teaching in Wainwright.

Located about 50 miles south of Barrow, Wainwright has a population of about 500. The majority of the population is Inupiaq. The villagers typically live a subsistence lifestyle, whaling in the spring, fishing whenever they are able and hunting year-round.

The village has two small grocery stores, one school teaching grades kindergarten through 12th, and a small hotel that boasts the village's only restaurant.

This was an abrupt change for the Valley teenagers.

While in Wainwright, they stayed at the church manse. Currently, the Presbyterian Church in the village is lacking a pastor, so the empty four-bedroom house across the street from the church proved to be a perfect, if somewhat snug, fit for all 17 people.

Reverend Carrick expected about 35 young children from Wainwright to attend the Bible school, hoping for maybe 10 or so teenagers to come to the youth gatherings in the evenings.

Instead, more than 50 children from Wainwright attended the school in the afternoon, with many of the village's teenagers assisting. In the evenings, around 30 teens hung out at the church for games, fellowship and singing.

Roberta Behm, whose two daughters went on the trip with her as a chaperone, said more than anything else her daughters learned patience with other people.

&#8220They learned how to be a little firmer, but also a lot nicer,” Behm said. &#8220They learned that Wainwright is an open door community. We're used to being able to shut our door and being able to be alone. In Wainwright, people walk right on into your house. And everyone was so pleasant all over the village.”

Chaperone Marilyn Mapes' daughter Meredith was also on the trip.

&#8220Meredith's learned that kids are kids all the world over,” Mapes said. &#8220She's also learned that 14 girls can get along with just one toilet.”

Seventeen-year-old Lauren Guinotte was another of the 10 Valley teens on the trip. Guinotte readily admitted she learned more about herself than she ever expected to.

&#8220Knowing, discussing and studying different cultures doesn't quite prepare you for actually experiencing them,” she said. &#8220A lot of us in the group became even closer friends, because before we only saw each other on Sundays. Pastor Leisa thought it was amazing. I thought it was because we shared one bathroom.”

Many of the high school students who went on the trip admitted to being very nervous prior to leaving.

&#8220This VBS experience was definitely worth it,” Palmer High School sophomore Jeanette Carrick said, &#8220When we came in on the little plane, I was worried that I wouldn't connect with anybody here and that I would feel like a total tourist. Then, on the first day, we had almost a dozen people just come on into our house, and when VBS started on the fourth day, I already was great friends with loads of the children.”

Sara Reed, also a sophomore, agreed.

&#8220My dad has always told stories about the Bush, but I never dreamed I would get to see a real village or see and experience the native people,” Reed said. &#8220Sometimes I would secretly wonder if all the work was worth it, but then I would see all the kids' gleeful faces and realize how much joy we were giving them. This was an amazing trip. I've learned lessons that will continue to influence my life.”

Sara Reed's father, Stan, was also a chaperone on the trip and one of the few to have visited Wainwright before.

&#8220The people of Olgonik were warm and friendly in welcoming our church group into their community. It was easy for our kids to make friends with the village kids,” he said. &#8220The people here are much the same as anywhere else, similar joys and similar sorrows.”

Olgonik is the Inupiaq name for the village of Wainwright.

Many of the teenagers in Wainwright agreed that having peers from the Mat-Su Valley come to their village was an exciting experience.

Minnie Nasharook, a 16-year-old Wainwright teenager, enjoyed visiting and helping with the Bible school.

&#8220It was cool,” she said. &#8220The kids were a little crazy, but it was fun. It was so awesome having the teenagers lead the whole thing. I hope they come back next year.”

Wainwright resident Esther Ekak, also 16, echoed that sentiment.

&#8220It was so fun,” she said. &#8220I wish all of them would come back. I think most of the town was here for VBS.”

Florence Tagarook was born in Anchorage and raised in Wainwright. She was involved in the nightly youth gatherings. The 15-year-old said she had a wonderful time.

&#8220It was fun and I had a blast singing, playing games and laughing with my new friends,” she said. &#8220Thinking of them leaving makes me so sad because I don't know when I will see them again.”

Almost all of the Valley teens that went to Wainwright are united in their desire to return to the small village where they made so many friends.

&#8220I never would have guessed that all the kids would be so friendly,” said Signe Johnson, a 15-year-old from Palmer. &#8220I hope to stay in contact with some of the youth and I would absolutely love to come back again. Wainwright has to be one of the neatest places that I have been.”

An adventure

The small group from the Valley certainly did venture out of their comfort zone, taking long walks on the beach, hiking to a beluga graveyard, missing a polar bear that passed their way minutes earlier and swimming, very briefly, in the Arctic Ocean.

Big Lake High School Senior Beckie Behm was intrigued by the beluga graveyard.

&#8220The walk to the graveyard was long and hard, and when you get there the smell is unpleasant,” she said. &#8220They just cut the heads off and leave them there when they kill the whales. And then there was this long walk back, and when we returned we were told we shouldn't have gone out at all because a polar bear was walking there.”