Greenland House is a cultural oasis in the heart of Copenhagen where Greenlanders can stop by to hear music in their own language and sample familiar seal or whale meat. There's also an art gallery, a library stocked with Greenlandic books, a gift shop and a staff ready to offer help when asked. Some are fourth generation residents, but most are there temporarily to study or receive medical treatment. Alcoholism common Many find life in Copenhagen baffling or depressing. Alcoholism is a major problem, say Greenland House's social workers, who handle some 2,000 cases a year.
People start drinking just to mask their problems.
Drinking, as elsewhere in the circumpolar region, often camouflages deeper, painful issues related to social change. Many Greenlanders with AIDS choose to live in Copenhagen because of the relative anonymity offered by the big city far from home. Greenland House's AIDS worker, Lotte Hinge, says that most AIDS sufferers are not intravenous drug users, but rather gay men or women infected by bisexual partners. AIDS multiplying AIDS cases in Greenland have multiplied at an alarming rate because Hinge says that testing for the HIV virus is extremely inefficient. All tests are done in Denmark.