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By Sonia Farmer
Lyford Cay Foundation Scholar
Pratt Institute '09
The Lyford Cay Foundation has made a gift of $12,500 to facilitate the expansion of The Bahamas National Trust's Discovery Club, which provides hands-on environmental education to children and young adults. The donation has provided important seed funds to assist the Trust — which has well-established programmes in New Providence, Grand Bahama, Exuma, Eleuthera and Abaco — with the creation of new chapters in North and South Andros and Inagua.
"Spreading the message of conservation to the Out Islands is of critical importance, as many of them are still in a pristine state," says Portia Sweeting, Director of Education at the Trust. "If we get the conservation message out there, we develop young environmental stewards who will one day become adults. Then those islands may stay intact, for the most part, as opposed to the situation we have in Nassau, which is already highly developed and has lost the biologically diverse areas."
Established in 1995, the Discovery Club encourages academic and personal growth, self-reliance, responsibility and service to the community. Participants earn badges as they acquire new skills and knowledge through field trips, workshops, presentations and printed materials such as brochures and field guides.
"This Club has filled a void for environmental education in The Bahamas," says Ms. Sweeting. "It has been acting as a magnet, attracting children to conservation and environmental education. We help young people develop a love for and genuine interest in protecting the environment, and it's a life-changing experience for them."
The Club's mission made it a perfect candidate for funding by the Lyford Cay Foundation, which focuses much of its work on projects targeting the emotional, educational and recreational needs of young people and is always on the lookout for worthwhile programmes to support in the Out Islands.
"We liked the idea that the Club concentrates on the environment, which is such a key component of the sustainability of The Bahamas, especially in the Family Islands," says Suzy Robinson, Chair of the Foundation's Gifts and Grants Committee. "We know that the Trust is a highly reputable organization that has been doing this kind of work for 50 years now, and are extremely happy to be able to assist them."
The grant from the Foundation funded specialized 'Badge Boxes' — containing first aid kits, sleeping bags, tents, snorkels, masks, snorkeling vests and other materials — for each new chapter. This will ensure that all participants will have everything they need to fully benefit from the camp regardless of their socioeconomic standing.
"Without funding, our Clubs wouldn't exist in these new island communities, because many children just aren't able to acquire the necessary supplies," says Ms. Sweeting.
Traditionally, the Discovery Club has catered to 6- to 12-year-olds, but the Trust has recently expanded it to include 13- to 25-year-olds as well. The first older group, which consists of 17 members, started in Saint Augustine's College this past September.
"So far we've had presentations and skills training," says 16-year-old participant Ashley Foulkes. "We will be learning to camp and scuba dive and to identify certain plants and animals, especially Bahamian animals. Yesterday, they told us about these birds that migrate and they wanted us to be able to find the birds on our own."
For Ashley, the programme has presented an exciting and important opportunity to spread the message of conservation to others.
"I think it's good to know about the environment because lots of people take for granted what we have, especially the common things like conch. If people don't know about these things, there won't be anything left," she says.
Ashley's enthusiasm is exactly the kind the Trust wishes to foster in as many youngsters as possible as it seeks to continue to expand the Discovery Club across the Bahamian archipelago.
"The gift from the Lyford Cay Foundation was very timely, because it has allowed us to demonstrate the value of this programme as we work to take it to the next level, where it can be properly resourced in all of the islands," says Eric Carey, Executive Director of the Trust. "As our young people move into real-world careers, we want to be able to help them make informed decisions about the types of developments that should be encouraged, the types of real estate they should be investing in, and, most importantly, the things that they should want to discourage. The only way we can do that 20 years on is if we can impact children now and have them really come to appreciate the Bahamian environment."
Mr. Carey adds that the Club's hands-on exposure to nature enables participants to acquire a very real understanding of the fragility of the islands' eco-systems and to gain experiences that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
"You think about the many kids in so many islands who see trees growing in the water and they know that they're called mangroves, but they've never really gone and seen what's in the roots, seen the hundreds and thousands of baby fish and lobsters," he explains. "But when you take kids into the water and you show them what's really at the bottom of the mangrove, the experience they have is quite profound."
For additional information about The Bahamas National Trust, please visit www.bnt.bs or call Tel. (242) 393-1317.
Photos, courtesy of the Trust:
1: Discovery Club participants showcase their experiments at the Lyford Cay International School.
2: Studying reptiles at Saint Augustine's College.
3: Children from Summit Academy visit a local farm.
4: Recycling soda bottles to make planters in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera.
5: Bird watching at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic School, Freeport.
