Broadening their awareness about the many factors affecting the land and sea environment, six Bahamian students recently attended the Caribbean Environmental Youth Programme summer camp in St. John, United States Virgin Islands. Their participation was made possible through the Bahamas Hotel Association.
Held at the Virgin Islands Environmental Resource Station (VIERS) at Lamesur Bay in the most remote part of St. John, students participated in land and sea field trips studying the diverse flora and fauna and moving between sub-tropical forest, mountains and endangered coral reefs.
They hiked to waterfalls, ancient Taino Indian petroglyphs and plantation ruins and met with world-renown scientists who were studying the lifecycles and factors affecting the health of the region’s coral reefs.
Bahamian students included: Kristin Duncombe from North Eleuthera High School; Chardonae Rose from Jack Hayward High School; Chris Comito from St. Andrews; Chavaughn Henfield from South Andros; Janelle MacPhee from New Providence; and Ebony Culmer from C.C. Sweeting High School. Kristin, Chardonae and Ebony earned their way to the camp through their winning entries in last April’s Coastal Awareness Month poster competition sponsored by the Ministry of Tourism.
“The students came back with a much greater understanding and appreciation of the delicate balance of nature and the importance of our natural resources in our lives and for our livelihoods” stated Bahamas Hotel Association Executive Vice-president Frank Comito.
He was joined on the trip by Earlston MacPhee, director of Sustainable Tourism for the Ministry of Tourism, and Sheena Williams from the Ministry of Education.
The camp included students from Trinidad and Tobago, St. Maarten, the Turks and Caicos and the Virgin Islands. Students attended a series of workshops and developed country presentations given during the camp’s final evening.
Participation in the camp was possible through the collaborative efforts of the Bahamas Hotel Association, Clean Islands International, the Caribbean Hotel Association, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism and American Airlines.
“We are most appreciative of our member hotels who sponsored four of the students and a chaperone this year, specifically Tiamo Resorts for sponsoring Chavaughn; Old Bahama Bay which sponsored Chardonae; the British Colonial Hilton, sponsor of Ebony; and Kerzner International, who sponsored Kristin” stated Comito.
