Anyone who thinks teens are not interested in studying hasn’t met some
special students in Grand Bahama. More than 40 of them between the ages
of 12 and 14 are trading Saturdays at the mall for Saturdays in the
park, literally, preparing to be ambassadors for
the environment.
The program called Youth Environment Ambassadors is funded by the fast-growing environmental movement
Save The Bays
and run in Grand Bahama by Save The Bays Director Joseph Darville with a
group of assistants, including Rashema Ingraham, Jensen Farquharson,
Javan Hunt, Nikie Severe, Robert Nabb and others. This year’s
course includes special leadership training with Sharon Glover, a
volunteer from North Carolina with Bahamian roots.
“When we arrived for the start of the program this year, we couldn’t
believe it,” said Darville. “Nearly 80 students had signed up for the
six week course and there were only 40 slots. And the first day, which
was December 6, was incredible.” Initial work at
a facility provided by the YMCA involved comparing the life of a tree
to ecology of the planet. “When we went into the Garden of the Groves
and they could see the trees and understand how it all revolves and
evolves, how everything from limbs to leaves to
the ants on the ground, were intertwined, it was if they had unraveled
the secrets of the universe,” Darville said. “You have never seen such
excitement and passion among young people eager to learn more. They were
touching every part of the tree, asking a
million questions. It was incredible.”
The purpose of the program is twofold – to help prepare young Bahamians
for the future with jobs in the expanding blue and green economies that
are projected to grow at rates greater than traditional jobs.
“But also we know that the real stewards of our environment are the
young people who will be the conscience and caretakers of our precious
universe,” Darville explained. And Ms. Ingraham agreed.
“Our young students are being prepared to protect, preserve and lead as
stewards of the archipelagic Commonwealth with its abundance of unique
and natural resources,” said Ms. Ingraham.
According to Tristan Rampersad, a second-year participant, “Similar to
last year, I expected this first session to be fun, educational and to
teach me even more about our environment,” he expressed. “I hope this
knowledge can help me and others save our environment
and to show everyone why it is so important.”
