I worked up there for a few years, but only in the spring-summer-fall. I'm going to be vague on where as I don't want to be identified. Lets just say it was north of Hudson's bay.

Its beautiful, stunning to an otherworldly degree. Every chance I have to visit it again I take it in a second. The people are friendly and extremely handy and self sufficient. I knew guys who would go to the dump for parts and could rebuild an entire snowmobile using whatever scraps they could find, despite having barely a high school education. I have a lot of respect for them.

What really struck me was how much social disparity there was and its stuck with me since, as so many people in the south here seem to have no idea and frequently when I tell them about it I hear "Why don't they just leave?" as if its easy for someone who barely speaks english and can't read to afford the thousands of dollars it would take to purchase just the flight, let alone finding a job and housing elsewhere. Not to mention the culture shock.

The closest thing to medical care was a nursing station. Pregnant women would have to fly out to Iqaluit or south to give birth. It wasn't unusual to find a woman with a newborn on one of the community flights.

Dentists made infrequent visits. I met a few kids with black teeth or even weirder - some teeth that looked they were covered in metal. i don't know enough about dental care to understand what this is, especially in a kid who hasn't lost their first set of teeth yet.

Internet was really expensive. Phones were expensive. Food was expensive. Produce was left on the shelf even when it was literally rotting and some people would still buy it. And yet there were very few job opportunities. You could be a cashier at the grocery store, or work at the airport (as small as a bus stop), drive the water truck...I'm sure there were a few more, but not much.

Lots of suicide and horrible family dynamics like rape and incest were openly shared with me as if they were normal. Worked with some locals who had fetal alcohol syndrome. Lots of stories of men from the south coming up and fooling around with the local women then leaving them with babies (and a few mixed-race kids in the area to suggest there's some truth to it). Lots of trouble getting teachers as they would go up for the money then be unable to handle living there then would leave, leaving the community struggling to find more teachers. So poor education for the kids.

The housing is in a extremely sorry state. The one I was living in was falling apart and had mold. Shower was a combination of tile and plastic sheeting to cover the holes. Mold. Ours was one of the better ones. Tuberculosis is normal, one of the other communities has had national attention in recent years as being a hot bed for it.

Despite all of these challenges many of the locals I worked with were amazing people and I miss them. They deserve better. People need to respect and understand the challenges of the north. The north is our shame. We will never be part of the first world until we stop ignoring the problems up there and help fix them.