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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Ministry of Tourism staff members are pictured with Stephen and Terry Bellot as they host students of Drake University and the University of Maryland.
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Nassau, Bahamas -
Almost four decades after the start of the People to People program, volunteers are keeping it vibrant and calling on more Bahamians to join, ensuring a continued rejuvenation.
Stephen and Terry Bellot recently hosted more than 20 students from Drake University and University of Maryland at their Nassau home. The seemingly unusual event was one of several hostings that have become a regular activity for the Bellots.
“We’ve hosted couples, families, bloggers, different professionals, bloggers, beauty queens,” said Terry about their involvement in the Ministry of Tourism program that gets Bahamians to give visitors more authentic cultural experiences. “We’ve had people from Switzerland, Lebanon, China, the United States, all over.”
Involvement in the program is a family affair for the Bellots. Their participation has its roots in an earlier generation. Stephen’s mother was the family’s first People to People ambassador. He remembers seeing her offer hospitality to guests of The Bahamas.
“I just knew that all the experiences she had with People to People were good ones,” Stephen said. “She developed so many friendships with people to people. It was a perfect fit.”
When Stephen and Terry were married, they carried on the tradition. He thought it was important to show visitors what The Bahamas was all about.
Hosting college students was especially rewarding to the couple. Stephen saw it as the start of a lasting connection between them and The Bahamas.
“I know a little bit about Drake and I know a little bit about Maryland but obviously, they are going to have a special place in my heart going forward,” Stephen said. “I would like to hope that so many of these young people that are going to be getting married shortly are going to come back here for their honeymoons. Then they are going to come back here with their kids. Then they are going to come back when they retire. So I look at it as a lifelong friendship.”
He hoped more Bahamians would join the program, which has constantly refreshed over the decades.
“We, as Bahamians, have so much to share, as a culture, as a people,” he said. “I think that if we can share it, we can definitely show people what we are all about. The Bahamas is about the people.”
Bernadette Bastian, who manages People to People in the Ministry of Tourism, said the Ministry is always looking to attract the support of residents to maintain the program’s strength. She said volunteers are now active on nine islands, and People to People will expand to another two islands this year.
“Before the end of the year, we will see the 40th anniversary of this distinguished program, and we believe it will be stronger than ever,” she said.
People to People began in Nassau in December, 1975 and expanded to Grand Bahama the following year.
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