Arviat (Jun 14/06) - Move over chicken soup, square dancing is the best food for the soul according counsellors who organized a weekend of do-see-doing last month in Arviat.

Almost 50 teens from the southern- most Kivalliq hamlet and Rankin Inlet attended the event, which was the focal point of three days of activities designed to build self-esteem.

"It is nice to see young people really get into (square dancing)," said Nancy Kalluak, a wellness co-ordinator in Arviat who organized the festivities.

"We all grow up with self-esteem issues."

Outside of the dancing circle, Kalluak and Ken Harps, a family support worker from Rankin Inlet, led the students through sessions where kids shared their thoughts and fears.

Most teenagers suffer through an awkward phase, but Harps said that can develop into serious self-esteem problems and, sometimes, even lead to suicide.

The weekend was filled with positive re-enforcement and Harps said some teens had breakthroughs, including one who stood up before the group and sang - guitar in hand - for the first time in his life. "It was the most amazing experience I have ever seen," Harps said.

Moments like that was precisely what the counsellors were hoping for.

"Sometimes we don't know how to dig it out," Kalluak said about self-confidence.

She grew up with depression and said it wasn't until she was in her 30s before she gained confidence in herself. "I felt I was nothing. I thought: I'm not good-looking," she said last week. But after confiding in a friend, Kalluak realized she was not alone, a message she wants to pass onto other teens.

"It's nice to let the youth know they have the ability to make their lives change," she said.

After the sessions, several dozen square dancing teens grabbed their partners and entertained a huge crowd at the Arviat community hall. By the time things got going, more than 300 people were on the dance floor, Kalluak estimated.

Harps also led the teens through a workshop on crystal meth, the highly-addictive, brain-wasting drug that is sweeping though southern centres. While meth - a combination of household chemicals including ammonia and cough syrup - isn't in the Kivalliq yet, Harps said it's important for kids to understand how it could affect them.

"We told them: 'This is serious. This is going to kill you.'"