Wally Mah’s commute on Monday mornings begins at 7 am. He takes a taxi from his Exchange District condo to the Winnipeg airport, where he boards a small plane to the northern First Nation of Pukatawagan. It’s a near weekly journey Wally, 46, has been doing for 14 years.
During the week, he stays at the nursing station in his modest-sized room with a mini fridge and a bed.
Wally puts on a mask in his dental office to get ready for the day. The night before, the community had a power outage so he sits with the lights off. Though Mah can't help patients without electricity, he prepares for a situation where the power comes back.
Pukatawagan, about 820 km northwest of Winnipeg, is home to approximately 2,000 residents. Mah is their only dentist. He works three weeks out of every month up north, a schedule that keeps him busy when he’s in town.
Wally feels Ruby's face for pain along her jaw after some X-rays. Ruby came in complaining about a toothache.
After locating the source of the pain in Ruby's mouth, Wally tries a root canal at first but discovers the tooth must be pulled because it is fractured. "I'm sorry, Ruby," he says.
Ruby holds her face after an intense round of tooth extraction.
In the summer, the community experienced a wild fire which took down a few of the power lines supplying electricity to Pukatawagan. The community currently relies on generators for power, which are unreliable. The evening Pukatawagan loses power, Wally eats dinner in the dark in his room and replies to emails. The nursing station which Wally's room is in has an emergency generator which provides electricity to treat patients but the power doesn't reach his room.
After work, Wally likes to go for a run around Pukatawagan. Today, he is walking. He waved to community members during his walk.
When the weather allows it, Wally and Dr. Jesse Howett go on short kayak trips on the lake after work. They can’t go too far tonight because Dr. Howett is on-call. He packs a radio in the event of an emergency. While kayaking, Wally likes to check up on a family of beavers he has grown fond of during his kayaking trips.
Wally reads on a plane from Pukatawagan to The Pas. After he finishes work for the week on Fridays, Wally gets on the 5 pm plane to The Pas, a town 520 km north west of Winnipeg, as there are no direct flights from Pukatawagan to Winnipeg.
In The Pas, Wally transfers from one airport to another airport which has a flight that takes him to Winnipeg. He gets back to his home in the Exchange District around 11 p.m.
In The Pas, Wally takes a long walk near the airport every week to decompress from work before getting on his flight to Winnipeg. He thinks about the challenging parts of his week and how he can improve at his job.