KAREN:  What was the hardest thing for you about being a health aide?
 
CLARA:  Well, a lot of hard times was when I was going to training, leaving seven kids at home.  It's hard -- hard to find anyone to -- to take care of seven kids.  My husband was working. 

There was just one lady, mostly, that I remember that used to help us, Mary Abruska.  When I was in here in Anchorage for my second training, for four weeks, she -- and then she was a neighbor and she pretty much watched the kids when he was working, and -- and then they were in school, the ones of school age were in school, you know, most of the day.  So it made it easier. 

But if no one comes around, and our oldest daughter Linda, when I first went to training, she was 8 years old, and she swore she'd never have any kids after -- after always having to take care of her brothers.  Yeah. 

KAREN:  And what -- what kind of a work schedule did you have? 

CLARA:  When I was working out of my house, there was no schedule. 
This -- and there was no phone to call, so it was just come, anything, just come to the house. 

And then later on when we finally got a phone, they'd -- they'd call and I'd let them know to come over.  We just had a two-bedroom house, and our two-room house, and our bedroom was small and pretty much in there.  My exam table was my bed.  Yeah. 

KAREN:  So --

CLARA:  But after the -- the clinic opened, there was a schedule of like I used to go -- the doctor and his wife were there and they did their stuff, but I used to go to work at 9:00 in the morning 'til -- 'til noon, go home for lunch, and then go back until five o'clock. 

And it didn't seem far then, you know, when we walked.  We didn't have the vehicle and things to transportation.  And our house is pretty far down from where the clinic was.  It was no problem walking home for lunch and walking back again.  Walking home for lunch and feeding all the kids and stuff, the ones that weren't in school.

KAREN:  Uh-hum.  I know in some places people have talked about as health aide, you were on call 24 hours a day?

CLARA:  Uh-hum (affirmative).

KAREN:  7 days a week. 

CLARA:  Yep.  You're on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 30 days a month, when you're the only health aide there.  And then pretty soon you come up with a schedule after YK came on was health aides alternating covering the weekends.  Alternating being on call after hours during the week.  And that -- that worked out for those that still had more than one health aide. 

KAREN:  In those early days before you were paid and you were a volunteer, how did you balance your family and being a health aide or medical aide? 

CLARA:  I don't know.  I don't know.  My husband was working for the airlines, it was Northern Consolidated Airlines, and then later on Wien came in.  He worked for the airlines. 

And I didn't start getting money until I got trained and working.  The first check I got was $240 for a month.  AVCP was paying us. 

Some -- some health aides would wait three or four months before they got paid, and the pay came from St. Mary's, and the guys still remember now when I used to call, where's my check?  And we didn't have as many airlines, you know. 

KAREN:  Right. 

CLARA:  And I don't know, if -- if you couldn't afford it, you didn't have it.  Subsistence, mainly subsistence life.  But it seems like the more money you make, the more you spend, the further and more bills you get. 

KAREN:  Yeah, with seven children you had a lot to --