Fund a Project
Splash Awareness program: Zanzibar and Mayan Riviera
This 
program is specifically designed for kids, with flexible adaptations for ages from 5 to 12 years old. Kids are taught how to safely use snorkeling gear and to operate simple underwater digital cameras. They are guided with a professional team to a safe shallow bay where they can snorkel and take pictures of themselves and of the creatures they find. After the water activity, kids are usually hungry and we provide a meal. Then we start to look at their pictures they took and discussion on ecology and environmental issues start from there. Whenever we can, we give them copies of the pictures of themselves snorkeling so they have something to remember, to be proud of and to show family and friends. The program usually finishes having the kids color some illustrations to take home with some important local environmental basic info. Whenever the water conditions are not conducive for snorkeling, it is always possible to find optional water field trips to a lake or river, organize a beach cleanup, visit a local aquarium or even a sewage treatment plant. Action plans will follow depending on community needs and kids interests. Getting them motivated is the first thing. Creating local networks from where new projects start and flow is the critical point.
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A chance to read, share and learn: Portland, USA
It has been proven that early learning is more cost effective than any other kind of schooling. There are few things that produce more bonding between kids and parents than to read a book together. The feeling and the emotion set up the perfect moment for learning. We believe that engaging books would be a great way to make a change. We promote conscious artists, publish our own environmental books, and distribute them for kids to read. The kids own their books and share them with family and friends. Bringing those books to locations where kids don’t have access to own one, or where the local teachers don’t have any kind of resource, is an economic and relatively easy way to educate. Early reading promotes bonding, vocabulary building and prevents learning disabilities. One of the most important things in the learning process is to relate reading with real life in a direct way. This is why we want to integrate environmental book reading into our hands-on experiences.
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M.P.A. Ranger SCUBA program: Bavaro, Dominican Republic
This program aims to rangers of Marine Protected Areas (MPA).It provides them with training in SCUBA diving and helps them to identify common MPA’s problems and solutions. The program includes developing Educational Projects, coral reef surveys, permanent buoys installation and maintenance and habitat restoration basics, MPA’s management comparison, and divemaster internship. MPA’s are suffering from a lack of management and funding. Education usually has little or no assigned budget. This program offers an opportunity for the trainees to become acquainted with existing manuals and references, while facilitating the interaction between experienced MPA’ administrators, planners and diving professionals. Participatory planning, stakeholder analysis, conflict management, community engagement, and addressing social issues are studied and put them on practice in real projects within the context of national environmental management objectives and the necessary institutional arrangements.
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Shells on the Sea: Pemba Island, Tanzania
What about all this beautiful decorative mollusk shells that everyone believe they are caught dead and think it’s harmless to the environment? The business may not appear to be very large, says PhD. Mathew Richmond, but the sheer volume of shells and other marine curios sold is staggering. In addition, shells are used for the commercial production of buttons, inlays in furniture and for the production of specialized lime. The damage to shallow coastal habitats caused by turning over the boulders or prizing coral off the seabed may have considerable local impact on the productivity of the area. Until we have a system of management that ensures collection of the shells and other species sold is not depleting the wild stocks or interfering with the balance of life in the shallow marine habitats, these activities should not be encouraged. DO NOT BUY SHELLS, CORALS OR OTHER CURIOS. Please HELP US spread the word. Your donation would be used to educate regarding the dangers of the indiscriminate extraction at coastal community levels.
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Ocean Ambassador program: Bali, Indonesia
Divemaster training for local teen leaders. This is a one year progra
m in which adolescents will learn physiology, physics, dive gear technology and dive computers use, First Aid, CPR and rescue skills, coral reef ecology, diving compressor operation, dive equipment basic maintenance, apnea training, environmental education, interpersonal skills, English language skills, and leadership skills. The internship is based in a local dive center, from where students also learn how a professional dive operation works. After successfully complete the program, the student earns the first professional certification level of diving: Divemaster. In many areas of the world, the business of SCUBA diving only gives good paying jobs to foreign instructors and divemasters. Expensive training, language and cultural barriers, are the hindrances. We aim to train great local divemasters that can educate others on environmental local issues while having a relatively good paying job opportunities.
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