Lögberg-Heimskringla - 28.01.2005, Page 9

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 28. janúar 2005 • 9
Tammy was well received on her recent trip to Africa. Among
other things, she helped nurses treat sick babies.
nect. I even tried to look up my
aunts but could not find them.”
The year 2000
changed everything
Finally, in the fall of 2000
Tammy attended a convention
in Winnipeg. “I thought that
since I was so close to Gimli I
had to go there. I did not know
anybody, but by the grace of
God, it was the weekend of the
125th anniversary of the Ice-
landic settlement in the area. I
did not know anything about it
until I got there. As I sat in the
hotel’s restaurant and listened
to people speaking Icelandic
around me for the first time that
I could remember, I was just
amazed to be in this community
that was all Icelandic. To hear
it and see it was unbelievable.
I found out that the next day
was the traditional ‘walk to the
rock’ that the original settlers
first arrived at. It was a cold
day and I joined in the walk. I
normally walk fast but this was
the first time that I had 60-year-
old people walking as fast or
faster! Now I know where I got
my fast walking.
“As I stopped to take pic-
tures, Cathy Arnason came up
to me thinking I was a reporter.
She was running in the federal
election and had seen me writ-
ing in the restaurant the previ-
ous night. I explained that I was
writing in my joumal, and that
my last name was Stefansson
and that though I was Icelan-
dic, I did not know anybody.
She always said afterwards that
she found me washed up on the
beach and adopted me. She in-
troduced me to her cousin Da-
vid Amason and many other
people.
“This first day in the Ice-
landic community I met rep-
resentatives from the daily
Morgunblaðið in Iceland, the
then-prime minister Davíð
Oddsson, consul general
Svavar Gestsson, Senator Janis
Johnson, professor Haraldur
Bessason, and astronaut Bjami
Tryggvason, to name a few.
Brent Amason allowed me to
ride one of his Icelandic ponies,
and that was the first time I had
seen Icelandic horses. I got to
töltl
“I was absolutely plunged
into this Icelandic community.
Ovemight I had roots and con-
nections and in June the fol-
lowing year I arrived in Iceland
to tour and participate in David
Amason and Bill Holm’s cre-
ative writing course in Hofsós.
I met Valgeir Þorvaldsson and
Wincie Jóhannsdóttir and got
to hear all the sagas, fish for
cod, and see things that were
important to me. I drove to
Akureyri, I cliinbed Drangey,
I went north to Grímsey and I
explored Lake Mývatn. Did the
Blue Lagoon, rode ponies, and
was attacked by Arctic tems! I
had an amazing experience and
got information about my fam-
ily tree in Hofsós.”
Assists orphans in Africa
When Tammy got back to
BC she got involved in the Ice-
landic Canadian Club again. “I
want to continue to explore my
family roots and my Icelandic
heritage. I am very thankful for
the people that have helped me
and I want to give something
back. 1 have participated in
the Scandinavian Days and the
Craft Fairs and that has been a
wonderful experience. I have
stayed in contact with people
l met in Iceland and have had
friends visit me in B.C. I would
like to work with the Icelan-
dic Canadian Club of BC to
get young people to reconnect.
The Snorri Program is terrific,
but we need more for them at
the club level. They may enjoy
somebody playing the accor-
dion but they would really pre-
fer to listen to Björk or some
popular group out there.”
Assisting others is a big part
of Tammy’s life. Recently she
got back from Africa where she
went with a group from White
Rock which included a doctor
and two nurses. “They were
setting up a temporary clinic in
a poor area outside of Kampala,
Uganda, very close to where the
AIDS epidemic started,” she
says. “There are about 3,000
children in the area and 2,000
of those have lost one or both
parents to AIDS. I wanted to
see for myself whether I could
give up my North American
lifestyle and work at least part
of the year, if not permanently,
in emergency areas like this. I
have not come to a conclusion,
but I think I’ll be there or some-
where else. I’m trying to get a
connection in Thailand to go
there and help with the tsunami
reconstruction efforts. I toured
an orphanage in Kenya, and a
hospital north of Nairobi, and
visited one of my sponsored
kids in Uganda. When I con-
tribute money to something I
like to know that it’s being well
spent and it is through World
Vision Canada.”
Reconnecting with her Ice-
landic heritage is still one of the
most important things Tammy
has done for herself, though.
“I’m sure my desire to travel
comes through my Icelandic
genes. I seem to have an innate
drive to explore. And though
I’ve stood on the Great Wall of
China, seen the Sistine Chapel,
Big Ben, dived in the Caribbe-
an, visited the Canary Islands,
and toured the Alps, my trip
to Iceland was an exhilarating,
personally satisfying experi-
ence that stands out from any
other.”
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