SPACE volunteers with a Vowel man to teach phonics
Every Child kept a journal of their activities in the program here they are designing the covers.
S.P.A.C.E is a summer program for the youth of Harbour Island, one of the Islands of the Bahamas. Founded in the summer of 2007 by volunteers who devised a three week program of academic, creative and community oriented activities for island children in the summer months, The program has several dimensions all aimed at empowering the young people of the island by encouraging them to develop their creative talents, academic abilities and grow into motivated community minded citizens
What We Do!
SPACE to Create: Kids are split into groups which rotated between dance, music, and drama lessons. A heavy emphasis is placed on exploring Bahamian heritage; children learn traditional calypsos and preformed skits along Bahamian themes. They also greatly enjoy learning dances from Broadway Musicals. By giving our children space to create they develop confidence, gain an understanding of team work and discipline as these are key to success in performance arts. This is a fun way of keeping our heritage alive and exploring the diverse culture of the world
SPACE to Learn: English and maths classes given every morning. Children cover key grammar, literacy and numeric skills, visit the library and work on art projects. This year we hope to expand the program to include more science particularly to help kids learn about the
Community Space: Our vision is based on the philosophy that it takes a community to raise a child and we try as much as possible to involve the wider community in the program. In this spirit local elders come and share their stories and the oral history of the island with the children. Different members of the community also are invited to give workshops or just come and spend time with the children. Children are encouraged to become community minded citizens and we do litter picking expeditions, as well as tree planting and beautification projects. We hope to expand this to include a project to clean the island’s mangroves, beach clean up, graffiti removal, as well as visiting the elderly and immobile. The final day of camp is a performance for the community, of all the songs, dances and skits learned during the camp, in the spirit of uplifting and uniting Harbour Islanders in nurturing our greatest hope: our youth. This is our way of combating the negative forces of violence, poverty and despair affecting many Bahamian youth.