"I had lived in places where we were the poor, mixed and broken family, and in places where we were the rich ones who leave their shoes outside to be stolen. All these moves taught me a secret not everybody learns."

B.C.'s Okanagan Valley, known for its long hot summers and beautiful lakes, wineries and orchards, has long been a popular destination for tourists, wedding parties, and families seeking a healthy lifestyle closer to the great outdoors. Although temperatures are starting to cool down, blazes are still raging across the province in the second-worst wildfire season in B.C’s history.

Air pollution kills one million Indians annually. In the northern city of Patna, the problem shaves four years, on average, off residents’ lives.

Moving from the pacific coast to the interior of B.C., the landscape and light shifted as a soft breeze became a thick blanket of heat, writes Emilee Gilpin. Five hours later, I heard the commotion, saw the lights and landed on an entire tent city — here was the Kamloopa powwow.