WHALE COVE/CORAL HARBOUR
Close to 30 youths took part in a youth celebration camp on the land near Whale Cove this past month.

Noah and Sarah Matoo of Coral Harbour have been raising funds to hold their own youth celebration camp for almost a decade. - photo courtesy of Noel Kaludjak

The annual camp has been overseen by the husband-and-wife team of Coral Harbour's Noah and Sarah Matoo for about a decade.

The pair do all the fundraising for the camp throughout the year, and take care of organizing every aspect of the program.

Kivalliq Counselling and Support Services (KCSS) executive director Noel Kaludjak took part in this year's youth celebration camp in Whale Cove, which ran from Aug. 24 to 28.

Kaludjak said the focus of the camp is to encourage youth to live a happy, healthy lifestyle and to help them with any issues they may be dealing with.

He said the Matoos usually hold the camp in Coral Harbour but because they've been so incredibly busy this summer, they decided they wanted to do something a little different by holding it in a different community and starting to teach others how to run the program.

"Marianne and Ben Hapanak of Whale Cove attended the camp to learn how to run the youth program, and they might start running it in their community," said Kaludjak.

"Jimmy and Sharon Qiyuk of Rankin Inlet have been with the program for a couple of years now, and they came to Whale, as did Lali Pudlat of Coral Harbour.

"My staff came along with me, as counsellors, to talk to any youth who needed to speak with someone about an issue they're trying to deal with."

Kaludjak said the grassroots program is the brainchild of the Matoos, who have their own way of running it.

He said nobody called upon them to start the camp, they just decided to do it themselves to help youths adjust and be healthy and happy because it's something very important to them.

"I'm usually in the leadership of these types of events but this time I was watching from he sidelines and helping out when I was needed.

"It was awesome watching Noah Matoo work with the youth outside, playing games that showed them how to connect and (encouraging) them to open up with each other and make friends.

"Naturally, young people like to laugh, have fun and enjoy themselves, so Noah came up with games that allow them to break the ice with one another.

"I found their methods very effective.

"They really know what they're doing and everything ran very smoothly at the youth celebration camp."

The camp had youth aged 16 and older from Coral and Whale.

The Matoos wanted to keep the group small this year, so it would be easier to teach the adults learning to run the program.

Kaludjak said the youth celebration camp could definitely have a place within KCSS programming.

He said he could even envision having the program expanded to include adults and elders.

"It wouldn't be done, perhaps, exactly the same way, but with the same method and rules.

"You go out to the camp at 9 a.m – if you're late you're punished – and everyone helps out with the cooking, cleaning and doing chores around the camp.

"It teaches the participants how to work together as a team without, you know, bumping into each other all the time."

The skills of the KCSS counsellors were required a few times at the camp.

Kaludjak said sometimes a child came forward to ask to talk, and other times a counsellor might have noticed someone who looked to be in need of a little help.

He said the KCSS counsellors were given the chance to talk to the youth as a group about how life works within the family, and how to deal with death, especially a suicide, and if anyone within the family is abusive or has substance-abuse issues.

"We also spoke about how to open up while talking with a counsellor, and how much that can help you to move on in life if you've been hurt in any way.

"We had one-on-one counselling throughout the week, whether it was a child wanting to talk or if we noticed a young person walking around with their head down.

"In that case, we'd go up to them, befriend them and start talking with them until they began to open up with us, whether it was in a cabin or outdoors.

"The kids really enjoyed the camp and there was a lot of laughing and crying because there was so much emotion involved."

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