SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Photovoice, which starts on Monday, is a project that invites local youth to document social and personal issues they see in Yellowknife.

Pictured on Thursday are David Buchanan, left, and Marty Mako snapping pictures to document their Photovoice project from start to finish. The project will employ local youth to document personal and community issues in creative ways. - Tim Edwards/NNSL photo

"It's about empowerment. It's not the adults creating something and giving it to the youth. That's not engagement – engagement is getting them involved in the process of what the project will look like," said Marty Mako, a health promoter from Ontario who is volunteering in Yellowknife for the summer.

Mako is also one of the two organizers of Photovoice.

"We're going to meet at The Diner every morning for breakfast, and socialize and get to know each other, and then we'll meet at Aurora college – who is another partner in the project who have lent us meeting space and computers – then we'll distribute the digital cameras and talk about the themes that will be shot, and then they will go off into the community and they take their pictures, download them onto the computer and go home," said Mako.

"The process is as important as the project. It's not just what they create, but it's the process and the skill-building."

Mako, along with David Buchanan, will be recording the process on video and then showing the documentary they create, which will include the photos taken by the teens, at Capitol Theatre in early August.

"I guess our role is to give them ideas of topics or themes they can explore, but I think the purpose is youth engagement, so we can engage them in the process by having them choose their own topics that they are passionate about," said Mako.

Anyone interested can still sign up by contacting the NWT Literacy Council.

There will be two different groups of eight to 10 youth in two-week blocks. It will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., five days a week for those two weeks.

The main goal, above all, is to have fun and get involved.