Award of Excellence: Tunu
In West Greenland, the east coast is called Tunu. It means “the backside.” The name comes partly from the harsh weather, which makes the coast difficult to access, and partly because the east coast was colonized 100 years later than the west coast. But it also reflects the fact that East Greenland faces some of the country’s most severe social problems: suicide, sexual abuse, violence, and substance misuse.
For many, life is so hard and hopeless that it can be difficult to see any meaning. Yet there are also forces trying to give the next generation a better life—among them, teaching young people to dream. Not necessarily big dreams, but simply about something: a sofa, a tour guide certificate, or savings for a small fishing boat.
As opportunities are few with almost no educational options and jobs, and the lack of housing puts extra pressure on families. Some try to move to West or South Greenland to study, but return when homesickness becomes too strong. The question remains: what future awaits a generation go youth learning to dream in a town that has none?
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Dina Abelsen, 23, lives in Tasiilaq in an apartment for young mothers together with her brother, her son, and the child’s father. She is expecting another baby any day now and hopes it will be a girl. “My little boy just turned two. We celebrated his birthday and ate cheesecake. Soon I'll be a mother for two. I don’t know if it will be a girl or a boy, but I have a feeling it might be a girl. I work at a hotel in town. There isn’t much work right now because it’s winter, but I like it. I’m good at cleaning, and I really enjoy meeting tourists. But it’s difficult financially. Buying food in Tasiilaq is very expensive because everything has to be shipped, so it’s hard to make my salary last the whole month. The worst day of my life was in 2013, when I went to Nuuk to live in an orphanage for four years on my own. I had to go there because my mother was an alcoholic, and my father died of cancer when I was five. I didn’t like being there. Afterwards, I came to Tasiilaq and became a foster child with a family until I later moved into a dormitory.” What do you dream of? “To leave this place. It’s boring, and it’s very expensive to live here. I really want to get away and work somewhere other than Tasiilaq. I’d like to go to Nuuk. Nuuk is more modern, and goods are cheaper there too. Maybe I could work in a hotel, like I do here.” Do you think that will happen? “Maybe in some time. Not right now.”
