Pangnirtung (Aug 11/03) - It's an interest they all have, and they're hoping to share it with others.

The Iqaluit Video Youth Group combines videos and an important message: suicide prevention.

They headed to Panniqtuuq last week to share both and seek ideas for future projects.

But in order to do this, they had to raise most of the money themselves.

"We've been fundraising and writing to organizations for funds. We've done pretty good so far," said Pierre Wolfe co-coordinator with the group with Lisa Stevenson.

The group held a car wash on Aug. 2 and raised $400.

"We were charging five dollars per car, but some people were giving us 10 or 20 dollars," Wolfe said.

The first few days were spent in town, enjoying what the community has to offer and presenting their first video on suicide prevention.

They also took in the music festival on the weekend.

From August 11 to 17 the 10 group members (aged between 15 and 30) and two other adults will be out on the land giving workshops.

"We hope to kind of get an insight from the communities to see if they can start similar programs," Wolfe said.

The workshops will be oral presentations.

"We won't have our equipment, but we will have hand-outs and guidelines," he said. "We'll explain how to shoot a camera, do interviews and video production."

Another reason for the trip is for the group to come up with other video ideas.

Their first project was a suicide prevention video they made earlier this year.

They went to Kimmurut for the filming, and showed the finished product during the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention conference held in Iqaluit in May.

While the group, formed in October of last year, still focuses on that aspect and spreads that message wherever they go, they are also branching towards making different videos.

"We'll be talking to youths and elders and trying to get inside stories. It's an

information gathering opportunity for us and them," said the 23-year-old.

Wolfe said they will be looking at almost anything that could give them ideas for future projects.

"We'll look at everything, past and present. How families deal and dealt with stress, how life is like now compared to the past. Just anything touching the lives of youths today," he said.

The group is still learning about themselves and making videos, but they feel they are ready to spread the knowledge they do have.

They received equipment training with Inuit Communication Systems Ltd and with the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation

"This group that we have is committed to what we do. We've been through so much. We've had to deal with stress and a number of challenges. I just praise the group, they're great. Nobody takes the credit themselves, it's really a team effort," said Wolfe, who is also the Baffin Regional youth council vice-president.

The first trip wasn't all fun, and differences had to be worked out, differences that Wolfe didn't really want to get into.

"While it was challenging in many ways, it was a great learning experience. It was fun but hard at the same time," he recalled.