The winners of the first “Youth Express” Essay, Rap and Poetry Contest cosponsored by the United States Embassy in partnership with the Bahamas National Drug Council (BNDC) are participating in a National Peer Leadership Camp June 23-30 at the Royal Bahamas Defense Force (RBDF) Base at Coral Harbour. The 31 winners ages 12-14 who represent New Providence, Grand Bahama, San Salvador, Exuma, Eleuthera and Andros are participating in a week long program designed to encourage the future leaders to stand up to negative peer pressure and become agents of positive change within their schools and communities. The winners were selected based on their submission of essays, poems and rap songs that focused on the harmful impact of illegal drugs as part of the “Youth Express” competition last spring.

The winners of the “Youth Express” competition will participate in sessions on peer leadership, meetings with high level Bahamian officials and get a rare opportunity to participate in an Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos (OPBAT) helicopter demonstration at the RBDF base in Coral Harbour on Wednesday, June 27 at 8:00 a.m. The demonstration will highlight the coordinated efforts of OPBAT to combat drug trafficking into and through The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The official closing ceremony of the Peer Leadership Camp is scheduled for Friday, June 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the RBDF Base in Coral Harbour. The Acting U.S. Chargé d’Affaires John Armstrong and officials from the Ministry of National Security will provide remarks at the event.

This is a request for your media representative to provide coverage of both events:

The OPBAT demonstration at the RBDF base on Wednesday, June 27 at 8:10 a.m. Please note that this is a rare opportunity to get footage/photos of OPBAT that can be used as file footage as needed. Please note that for security reasons, the faces of the Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents should not be shown during the demonstration.