Just Checking In: North de Pencier

This week, we check in with North de Pencier on the other side of the globe.

Where are you right now?

I’m in Pune, Maharashtra, which is a “medium-sized” Indian city of 6 million people, a 3-hour drive from Mumbai.

What are you doing in India?

I’m in school full time, studying a language called Marathi. I also volunteer at an NGO that provides health and education services in a slum area. And I take Bollywood and Hip Hop dance classes.

That is so cool.  How does this connect to your camp life?

I’m going to eventually apply to medical school, so I am hoping that I can combine all my wilderness medicine training from Wanapitei with my language and health volunteering experience in India.   When I am a doctor, I will be able to practice low-resource medicine in India and in Northern Canada.  Plus, sometimes my campers let me teach them Bollywood dance for trip skits.

What is your favourite memory from last summer?

It was so cool to get to see my WLIT campers perform at campfire and work with other campers. They are so grown up! In August, I got to paddle the Kesagami River for the third time, and get to know a new set of amazing campers.

What are you most excited for this coming summer?

I’m leading V2!!! I’m so excited. When I started at Wanapitei, I was 9-years old, and I was a Temag. I learned about V2, and I decided that I would lead a V2 one day. Inshallah, 15 years later, that dream is about to come true!

North returns back to Canada this spring to pack and prepare for Voyageur II.