BREEF Celebrates Youth Creativity Through Artivism

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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Youngsters ages 8 to 14 dove into a hands-on underwater adventure this week as the Bahamas Reef Environmental Educational Foundation also known as BREEF, hosted its annual sea camp.

Campers helped bring the reef rescue mural to life while learning to identify marine species from Outreach and Education Officer Jasmond Collie.

The interactive lessons also highlighted the importance of protecting the ocean, a critical message for a nation surrounded by some of the world’s most beautiful waters.

Jasmond Collie – Outreach & Education Officer, BREEF

“…About 90% of our whole region is water, so knowing how to appreciate our marine life and learn the ways how that takes care of us is really really important.”

“Like for example a lot of persons don’t know that our coral reefs is our number one and our first barrier of defense for our costal ecosystems, so that’s just one of the first things that we highlight in our summer camp.”

Following that, climate change activist and Outreach Officer Heather Brockbank who is one of the camp’s leaders, explained how this artivism project helps youth in the community, connect with sustainability, and marine stewardship in The Bahamas in a hands-on way.

Heather Brockbank – Outreach Officer, BREEF

“So I feel like when we’re reaching out to our students…engaging parents and the wider community, [it] helps to really not only build partnerships, [but to[ allow students to explore their horizons with our BREEF Summer Sea Camp.”

“We don’t want them to only think about marine biologists, we want them to explore art…real expression about their environment and other ways they can reach out to their community.”

Outreach Officer Antonia Ferguson is also explaining how the mural inspires kids to dive deeper into ocean life, proof that BREEF’s mission is making an impact.

Antonia Ferguson – Outreach Officer, BREEF

“I feel like it’s really important because it highlights all the different fish we have in The Bahamas. Maybe it will get somebody really excited, and they may say I see all of the mural. But maybe I could do snorkelling…[at] the BREEF we do public snorkels every single month.

“They could go out there do some snorkels and actually see these fish in person, interact with them, learn how to snorkel and also swim.”