The Experiment

THE EXPERIMENT is the story of the nurse Gert who is appointed as headmistress of a special childrens home owned by the Danish state in Greenland 1951 The childrens home is intended to accommodate 16 carefully selected Greenlandic children who have just come home after a year of civilization in Denmark Now they are to be introduced into the Greenlandic community as role models Gert who lives alone and has no family accepts the assignment with pride She is idealistic and ambitious and feels passionate about saving Greenland from destitution The means to this end is to educate and civilize the 16 children in the Danish language and culture so they can spearhead Greenlands transformation from being a poor hunter society to being an equal part of Denmark Due to her blind faith in the experiment Gert underestimates the obvious personal costs to the children And when the children as well as the Danish state fail her