Ocean Wishes Making a Difference

Ocean Wishes, along with their sponsors, partners and benefactors strive to make a difference in the lives of the world’s children and in the protection of our oceans.

Recently Ocean Wishes made donations to the Malolo School in Fiji for fresh water and school supplies; to the Mud Whole School in Honduras; and to a clinic in Honduras caring for injured Mosquito Indian divers and people with spinal injuries. We have also donated money to the Likstein Project for Troubled Boys in Bonaire, Woman’s Diver Hall of Fame Charities, Ocean Pals, Oceans Four Youth, Shark Savers, World Wildlife Federation, and PADI Project Aware.

Below are some of the ways others are making a difference.

• International Coastal Cleanup - Nearly 400,000 volunteers at 6,485 sites in 104 countries and 42 U.S. states picked up trash along the world's ocean and waterways on a single day in September during the annual International Coastal Cleanup - the world's largest volunteer effort of its kind. They collected more than 6.8 million pounds of trash. Volunteers not only cleaned up trash, they recorded 11.4 million items from cigarette butts to fast food wrappers to cast-off appliances. Cleanups were conducted on ocean and waterway shorelines, as well as underwater by 10,606 divers and onboard watercraft by 1,236 boaters.
• The Center for Oceanic Awareness, Research, and Education - seeks to enlighten people, young and old, to the plight of the oceans, to change the way they think and act, and to encourage them to create positive and lasting change.
• www.oceanconservancy.org - Ocean Conservancy has been working for decades to ensure that fishing and fish farming are done right and operate in harmony with ocean ecosystems. They take a comprehensive, collaborative, and industry-wide view of the problem.

Jong Bonaire Success Stories:

“Go for it!” is a great part of the philosophy of Jong Bonaire, where teens get a chance to find their talents and interests and uncover their dreams through after-school activities. And they also get the encouragement. Jong Bonaire hopes to encourage all of Bonaire’s young people to think about the future and start building a path toward it.

One former member, Duvan Rios who was active in the Junior Ranger program first went to work at a local scuba diving company, then became a Park Ranger with STINAPA, where he helped train new Junior Rangers. Duvan has just recently moved on to join the Coast Guard. When he first joined Jong Bonaire he thought he wanted to be a metal worker but found his love of the ocean instead.

Ed Janga was encouraged to pursue his interest in magic when he became a member of Jong Bonaire. He started performing at the youth center and then branched out into the community. After completing his higher education on Aruba, he returned to Bonaire and has started his own company, Magic Ed Entertainment.

Ruviano Josephia was always active in sports at Jong Bonaire. After graduation he went to work at a local supermarket but found that he missed working outdoors. He didn’t know he wanted to work with young people when he was a member of Jong Bonaire but now he says: “I got to help with sports competitions and I remembered how much I enjoyed that.” So now Ruviano works as a sports activity leader at Jong Bonaire and is being trained to help teens deal with the issues of adolescence as well.

But Jong Bonaire would not be possible without the generous support of its funding partners and donors. About one third of the financial support comes from the Bonaire government and another third from AMFO. The last one third Jong Bonaire must raise itself. Many companies and individuals make this job easier but there is always a need to raise funds.