Sanikiluaq (Sep 27/04) - In Sanikiluaq, the sound of hammering and sawing draws attention to a three-bedroom house going up close to the beach.

The 12 construction workers, in work boots, hard hats and gear to protect them from the rain and cold, are students from Nuiyak school.

Student Daniel Narlik helps to even the beams that will support a three-bedroom house being built in Sanikiluaq. - photo courtesy of John Jamieson

In partnership with the Nunavut Housing Corporation, Qammaq Housing Association, Kakivak, and Najuqsivik Society of Sanikiluaq, Nuiyak school has given its students an opportunity to learn the basics of house construction from a professional -- their teacher, Brian Furgal, who has 25 years of construction experience under his belt.

One new house will not put a dent in the housing shortage in Sanikiluaq, but it is a start.

The youth are starting to think about the value of housing.

"I think they are doing incredibly well," said Furgal last week.

From reading blueprints to sawing wood, students like Daniel Narlik feel a part of something larger than school.

"They should do this everywhere in Nunavut. Nunavut needs more houses," said Narlik, who has never built a house before. "It's a different way of learning," he added.

"It's cool," said Zack Kowcharlie, another student builder. "I like being outside, not indoors all the time."

Three weeks in

Three weeks into the project, the students have completed the crawl space area. Materials arrived in July on the sealift, with more scheduled to arrive in October. Mornings are spent working on the house.

The afternoons are dedicated to math, science and English.

Nuiyak school uses the Alberta curriculum, so students, all of them boys this time around, will get work experience credits for the project.

"It's like co-op education, basically," said Furgal. "They are basically working for me."

When the house is completed, the Nunavut Housing Corporation will own the house and use it to house their own staff, who will come to the community and train more people to keep the building projects going.

The last time Sanikiluaq took on a project like this was two years ago when students and people on social assistance built an addition to the day care.

This project is three times as big, said Furgal.

"We're spending a lot of time outside right now to get as much done as possible, taking advantage of the weather before the winter comes," he said.