The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.2004, Side 38

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 58 #3
become slightly ill or not at all.
Furthermore, those who have good hous-
ing, and clean air, and good sanitary condi-
tions recover very rapidly. Unfortunately,
sanitation is insufficient in most house-
holds for which many have to pay, and it is
a pity that those who are not to blame often
suffer.
Approximately 30 have died from the
disease and 120 are ill. Most of those who
have passed away are children and
teenagers. A new warehouse in Gimli is
now being turned into a hospital.
Tomorrow patients are to be transferred
there. The doctor has recommended to the
Governor of Manitoba and Keewatin that
he immediately isolate the colony - which
he most likely will do. Groceries and other
necessities are to be brought from
Winnipeg to a certain place where we can
pick these up, but no other trips are to be
allowed from the colony.
There is no end to the Icelanders' trou-
bles here in Canada. Sigtryggur was ill for
a few days, but he has recovered, and no
one else in his family has become ill. My
brother, Arni, who lives in my house, has
been ill for a week, but he has recuperated.
I and my wife have escaped the disease so
far, but I don't expect us to be able to
escape it altogether. The doctor thinks that
the Icelanders are not as hard hit by this
disease as most others because generations
of us have been vaccinated. A few Indians
in the colony became ill with the smallpox.
Most of them died from it, others fled.
Most Icelanders who have recovered from
the smallpox have many scars. Now vacci-
nation is to take place for prevention pur-
poses.
The government has lent Icelanders
food, stoves, and cows. Moreover, it is
having a road built crossing the entire
length of the colony, spending at least a few
thousand dollars on it. This road will help
improve our conditions and hopefully it
will help prevent Icelanders from starving
to death. But those Icelanders who came
here last fall are now on their own and
most of them seem to manage to make ends
meet. Their crop, however, failed - as
could be expected - because the soil was
not sufficiently prepared for sowing in the
spring, and in the summer we had a lot of
rain.
In early October the weather was bad,
and it was constantly changing, but in late
October we had "Indian Summer" which
lasted until the middle of November.
Around the middle of November the lake
froze. The frost was not very severe, usu-
ally around zero, but we had a lot of snow.
Rev. Pall Thorlaksson has written and
offered his services as a minister for the
colony. He asked for a list of the names of
those who want him to come. 200 names
have been put on that list. He is not asking
any specific salary. Even though I am
known for minding others' business, I am
going to ignore this matter. I do not know
the synod personally, but I have only heard
bad things about it. However, since we do
need a minister, I am going to say this time:
"They can do whatever they like."
I and my wife are doing O. K., we are
well and we manage financially. Last fall I
started a small store, the only one in the
colony. Even though it is not very big I
Ejodraeknisfelag Islendinga \ Vesturheimi
PRESIDENT: PAUL WESTDAL
Support Icelandic culture and heritage
by joining your local chapter; or contact:
The Icelandic National League
#103-94 First Ave. Gimli, MB ROC 1B1
Tel: (204) 642-5897 • Fax: (204) 642-7151
inl@mts.net