{"id":874,"date":"2020-12-11T01:30:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T01:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/?p=874"},"modified":"2020-12-13T23:24:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T23:24:41","slug":"sunlight-is-our-only-vitamin-community-members-in-arviat-nunavut-worry-for-mental-health-as-isolation-period-continues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/2020\/12\/11\/sunlight-is-our-only-vitamin-community-members-in-arviat-nunavut-worry-for-mental-health-as-isolation-period-continues\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sunlight is our only vitamin\u2019: Community members in Arviat, Nunavut worry for mental health as isolation period continues"},"content":{"rendered":"\n[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

Natalie Baker (Inuit) outside her family home and new isolation location in Arviat, Nunavut (Photo provided by Natalie Baker).\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

MONTREAL \u2013 As COVID-19 cases continue to climb in the northern hamlet of Arviat, Nunavut, and as the days get shorter, community members worry about their mental health.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe youth are impacted greatly because we are told not to socialize, and most of the places they can go to are shut down right now,\u201d says Romeo Okatsiak, an Inuk youth pastor at the Glad Tidings Church in Arviat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nunavut<\/span><\/a> saw its first case on Nov. 6, in Sanikiluaq. The territory now has 56 active cases. Arviat, population 3,000, has been hardest hit with all of the territory\u2019s total active cases at the moment. At its last peak, the community had over a hundred active cases. As the rest of Nunavut lifts lockdown, Arviat will continue its isolation period for another two weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe health department did not want it [COVID-19] to spread, but it has spread significantly,\u201d says Okatsiak.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/noveltimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/PledgeDicksonFeaturePhoto1.jpg” title_text=”PledgeDicksonFeaturePhoto1″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”|auto|-13px|auto||” custom_padding=”0px||0px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.4″ _module_preset=”default”]

An empty street in Arviat, Nunavut as the sun sets at 3:30 p.m. (Photo provided by Natalie Baker (Inuit)).<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Eighteen-year-old Natalie Baker, who is Inuk, was working at a local grocery store until a nurse told her that her pregnancy put her at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19. She\u2019s been watching movies and drinking tea with her parents and her seven-year-old twin brothers since. Now she says she worries about her grandmother, who lives alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this whole pandemic and lockdown situation, we always used to go to my grandmother\u2019s house. We haven\u2019t been able to go see her,\u201d Baker says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She keeps in touch with her grandmother by texting her, and other family members stop by for window visits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lockdown has also resulted in the temporary closure of schools and youth centres.<\/span><\/p>\n

Okatsiak has been working as a youth pastor at the Glad Tidings Church in Arviat for the past 12 years. They usually run programs for youth between the ages of 13 and 33, but for the last couple weeks, that\u2019s been locked down as well. He worries for the mental health of the kids in Arviat, including his three children. \u201cThey need to find other ways to spend their time during the evenings and during the day,\u201d he says. <\/span><\/p>\n

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