Swimming lessons for flood affected children

Le Thi Thanh Thanh was watching her nine-year-old daughter girl, Nguyen Thi Phuong Anh ready for her first jump into the pool. Around the girl, a dozen of children were cheering her up to abide their turns.

“A couple of years ago, I registered my daughter for a swimming class organized by the local community on the river. Then, I thought it was not safe for her so that I pulled her out”, she said.

Thanh’s daughter is among thousands young children to grow up in flood affected communities in Dong Thap Province by the Mekong River Delta. The frequency of flood has been increasing in the recent years, therefore, the children has become more accustomed of going to school by boats.

With funding from Prudential Foundation, Save the Children supports the construction of swimming pools in schools and provides swimming lessons for the vulnerable children.

It is a part of the organisation’s disaster risk reduction programme in two flood prone provinces of Dong Thap and Tien Giang. The programme aims to support the local children and their communities to better prepare for flood and extreme weather through disaster risk reduction trainings and provision of life-saving items.

 “I’d like to recommend the swimming lesson at the school’s swimming pool to other parents because it is safer. We are living in a flood-prone area so swimming lessons for the children are crucial”. Thanh said.