Over 2000 children drown in Vietnam every year and the latest stats show Thanh Hoa Province Thanh Hoa province, which is home of Vietnam Jungle Marathon, has higher than average drowning figures. Our VJM charity partner Hue Help has recently organised swim training and Water Safety Education courses for teachers in Ba Thuoc and Quan Hoa Districts to help combat this problem.
In Vietnam over 2,000 children drown every year – more than any other country in South East Asia. The drowning rate in Thanh Hoa is higher than many provinces in Vietnam. The latest statistics available from the Ministry of Health indicate that 150 children drowned in the province in 2013.
On 22-26 June, Hue Help delivered a five-day training course for 10 swimming teachers of primary and secondary schools in Ba Thuoc district. These ten teachers will then go on to teach 200 children to swim, as well as teach them critical water safety awareness and safe rescue skills in July and Aug 2020.
In addition, on 27 and 28 June, Hue Help also provided Water Safety Education training to 80 teachers in Quan Hoa and Ba Thuoc districts.
After the training, these 80 teachers will then deliver water safety education training to more than 10,000 students in these two districts.
The education training will provide basic knowledge for students about water safety, helping them to protect themselves and know how to save others in order to prevent drowning.
Hue Help has been running its Swimming for Safety program in Vietnam since 2011, so far training over 400 teachers and 11,000 children. The World Health Organisations recommends teaching school aged children to swim and learn water safety as part of a strategy to reduce child drowning.
The funding for this training has come directly from Vietnam Jungle Marathon runners as part of the Topas Vietnam Trail Series commitment to community and charity work.