Pay it Forward 2019

With 2019 coming to an end we want to take a moment to highlight the stars of our Pay it Forward Program - The Participants!

This year our participants have given back and paid it forward in so many ways, and our continuing education participants have become so creative with their new and evolving pay it forward projects!

Alisha has started inviting younger kids from our village into the water with her to explore and learn about the reef ecosystem, coral health and the the fish that inhabit our local reefs! She is sharing with the younger generation the things that made her gravitate towards the ocean, sharing her passion for the ocean using the knowledge she has accumulated through the program and learning from hands on experience.

Shervona is cleaning up the beach and ocean and also monitoring coral health using the coral health chart and spreading awareness about the importance of keeping our ocean and food supply free of chemicals, waste and plastics! She has also encouraged younger volunteers to join her in this mission!

Shaun has partnered with his sister in cleaning the beach and ocean, visiting and volunteering at the recycling center and sharing their video with kids who have never seen beneath the surface themselves, inspiring them to experience something different the next time they are by the sea. Their video is shown to all our new scuba students and snorkelers from Dominica and abroad.

Mateo brought tears to the eyes of viewers from all over the island when he presented his video on ghost fishing and he continues to spread awareness about a serious issue with every view of his project. This was a heavy project that was very important to Mateo. Having such a strong emotional response to a conservation issue really shows how in tune our youth is with the needs of Mother Earth /the environment and that we need to listen to them!

Ginah showed us that even the youngest participants can make a difference, as she hand sewed reusable grocery bags and gave them away to people in need. We are so proud of her and we hope a future participant will take over from where she left off, providing reusable bags for more people out of pure kindness.

We had so many other great projects this year but it would take forever to list them all and the impact they’ve had.

Through the pay it forward program this year, we have certified :

4 new open water divers, 5 advanced divers, 3 rescue divers, several; Project AWARE, Peak Performance Buoyancy, EFR Providers, Fish ID, Coral Watch, Dive Against Debris, and other specialty divers!

The program also introduced several children/teens to ‘discover scuba’ over 20 young people participated in our Coral Reef Conservation & Coral Health course !

We cannot wait to watch this program grow., and introduce more of our Dominican youth to the sea through scuba, snorkeling and marine conservation!

For more details on projects, progress, new participants, milestones etc - join the community supporting our participants and funding the program- HERE