Our Swimming for Safety programme is now well underway. This year, we have trained up 34 teachers in the local secondary school system in Phu Loc, a district in Thua Thien Hue province. These teachers work at 10 schools, teaching up to 120 children per school.
In Phu Loc, there are no public swimming pools. To teach swimming, we have to use open water locations. We are now using 4 beach sites, 4 river sites and 1 site on the lagoon. Each location poses it’s own logistical challenges. Every area is made safe and risk assessed by qualified staff prior to the swimming course commencing. A combination of local and technical knowledge has enabled us to put together a system that has made a variety of natural locations suitable for swimming tuition.
A temporary swimming location in Loc Bon commune.
Each child in the programme receives 18 swimming lessons, and the lesson plans have been devised in cooperation with the IFSTA.
We are now monitoring each location in cooperation with Thua Thien Hue Red Cross, visiting each site to ensure that any problems that arise are solved and providing assistance where necessary.
Following the completion of the course, we will also hold a closing workshop in Hue which will provide an additional opportunity for the teachers and local officials to provide feedback on this year’s programme, helping us improve the plan for next year!
