  Dwarf galaxies in the Local Group provide a unique astrophysical laboratory.
Despite their proximity some of these systems still lack a reliable distance
determination as well as studies of their stellar content and star formation
history. We present first results of our survey of variable stars in a sample
of six Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies. We describe observational
strategies and data reduction, and discuss the lightcurves of newly found and
rediscovered dCep stars in DDO216, LeoA and GR8. Based on these data, we
present newly derived independent Cepheid distances. Other variable stars found
in our survey are discussed in a related article of this volume (Snigula et
al.).
