Ole LINDHARDT – Computer Specialist

Nuuk – Latitude 64° 10’ N – Longitude 051° 44’ W

18,000 inhabitants

Interviewed in September 2010

Greenland was colonized for many years which create a strong sense of frustration in our society. Although we have recently moved towards greater autonomy we have not yet our own country. Many of us want total independence but I think we are not ready to lead the country. Let us ensure that people have their own home, take care of them, that they give a good education for their children and then we will be able to lead our country. The independence will come automatically. The best suggestion I can give our politicians is to maximize resources in the education of our children because they are our only resource.

So far nothing significant came from the mineral prospecting but the oil industry is promising. Still a lot of development is to be done. We will need people educated and trained to work in these businesses. We are close friends of Canadians people from the east coasts were the mineral prospecting and oil industry has been developed. We are aware of the economic and social problems they have encountered and will try not to make the same mistakes.

For now, the school first should be the priority. When I was young, parents could choose to educate their children in Danish or Greenlandic. You can imagine that the Greenlanders have favored education in Greenlandic. Unfortunately the education provided in Greenlandic was a very low level while education in Denmark corresponded to the European level. This difference in education is still a handicap today; it has divided our society into group A and B. Fortunately now the system is mixed in one class. Again put our energy into education.

I grew up in Greenland and lived here all my life. I see the devastating effect of alcohol even in my own family. Our body cannot stand alcohol. This was also seen among Canadian Eskimos, Indians, Aborigines, Russians. Greenlanders do not know how to stop drinking; they lose control of themselves, go crazy and go to homicide. All generations are affected by the scourge of alcohol. We cannot say the cause is the evolution of society as in the Faroe Islands there were also many changes and the last homicide occurred 25 years ago. Nevertheless I see an improvement, around me more and more people got out of this negative influence.

We have already mentioned the problem of frustration. One consequence is that we have a suicide rate the highest in the world.  80 suicides per year to less than 60,000 inhabitants. Mainly young men. I am not a psychologist but I think that young men have an identity problem, they are between two cultures, and they do not appreciate the situation they find themselves in. Children they have the right to do anything, they are the center of the world, put on a pedestal by their parents and the shock is violent when they enter the active life, they are no longer the center of the world. They are no longer fantastic and have to show their competences. We have much less problems with girls; their education is more structured and less free. They are also trained to hold a home later. How parents educate their children plays a major role.

The world opened up by television, internet, radio, movies. Our youth as the youth of the world want to identify with what they see. For three years, this trend is stronger in Nuuk, the capital where there is more work, more money. Young people often have impressive cars, clothing trends, spectacles that I would not dare to buy for me.

A lot of mixed families, Danish father and Greenland mother, live in Nuuk. Their children have a good education; some went to study in Denmark. These children come back and hold qualified positions such as dentists, nurses or other such jobs. This is not the majority but that percentage increases every year and this is very positive. But still many Danish workers regularly come and work here because we do not have the skills. We must do more to educate our young people.??My 18 year old son and his friends are obviously sharper than us at the same age. They speak better English, know the world, follow the news, study. It is unthinkable for them to make a career and live in a small village in Greenland. This is another great discussion. Our small towns are inevitably doomed to be abandoned. Some villages have already been closed and people moved on by government orders. A real trauma! But should we continue and meet the needs of small villages? Provide them with electricity, oil, infrastructure and maintenance, which costs a fortune and sometimes for only about fifty people.

The tourism should be developed like in Iceland. Tourism in Iceland is well established. From anywhere in the world one can go to Iceland and vice versa. It is not our case. For many years only one airline was operating. We only have a few tourism experiences such as for example near the town of Kangaamiut where one can ski in the summer. This is a positive start. But the major problems facing the tourism industry are the limited time, from May to September, and the weather. I myself have had these problems with my own kayak activity. The tourism industry is not a full-time job and does not provide enough income to live all year round. Greenlanders would like to show folk dances, sessions of eskimo rolls, etc... to the thousands of cruise passengers but it is impossible when they work full time.

The climate is changing very quickly; the ice is shrinking year by year. In the north it is rarer to be able to hunt seals on the ice field. Couplers and dogs are no longer in use. Some hunters even have to part with their dogs, shoot them. In 2000 we still had championship of dog of traineaux in Aassiaat and on the ice field. Now there is no ice field and these championships will be held ashore in Ilulissat, Sissimut, Qasigiannguit ..?The glacier that I see from my window has reduced by 25% this year. Paradoxically there are now huge areas of crops in the south of the country. 70 tons of potatoes were produced last month! Unheard of! In addition these potatoes have a characteristic, there are the healthiest in the world and do not need to be treated as it is in Europe. We also produce salads and have lots of sheep.

Funny stories have circulated in the north. A hunter told a teacher that climate change had increased by one day the number of days of sun on the village. The professor responded, "It is not possible" The hunter: “Yes of course it's possible. The polar night lasts one day less! The sun comes a day early because the glacier has melted on the mountain. Now we celebrate the arrival of the sun a day early!”?This can make people laugh but for how long?