Ella Genve Shaw, 19, lives on a remote island off the west coast of Canada and says she grew up in a small community of about 15 families where there are no stores, internet or electricity.
A 19-year-old teenager lives on a remote island with no electricity and travels 3 hours to go shopping
A teenager living on a remote island with no electricity has to travel three hours to see friends and go shopping.
Ella Genve Shaw, 19, lives on a remote island off the west coast of Canada. Campbell River is the nearest town and is a three-hour boat ride away.
She grew up on the island with her parents and younger sister, five-year-old Arwen, and spent her teenage years foraging for food, building furniture and having limited contact with the outside world.
The island, which Ella doesn’t want to name, has no electricity, WiFi, stores or phone coverage, so she has to travel to the neighboring town to meet friends and go shopping.
The family uses a boat to travel between the islands, with her mother, Heather, 51, who works on a neighboring island.
She, a recent high school graduate, says, “My mother grew up on the island, so it’s always been my home.
It’s a close-knit community.
“We have our own boat to travel between the islands and, to go to the nearest town, we have to take our boat to a nearby island and then take a ferry across.
“It can take us up to three hours to get there and, in bad weather, we can’t travel anywhere.
During the winter, we can be stuck on the island for two months, so we have to make sure we have enough supplies.”
“All the food we eat is grown on the island and we have chickens, ducks and other animals that are raised for food.
She is often forced to travel to the city to stock up, including basic foodstuffs and clothing.
