EXTENDING OUR FOOTPRINT

The NSRI’s Drowning Prevention Department continues to work tirelessly to bring water safety education to the communities where it is most needed. We chatted to drowning prevention education coordinator Valerie Barlow and two new water safety instructors who have discovered their passion for empowering young children. By Wendy Maritz

SINCE IT WAS FORMED in 2005, the NSRI’s Water Safety Education Programme has aimed to empower previously disadvantaged communities to be safe around water. In the early days, the programme consisted of only a handful of instructors who targeted schools in the Western Cape.

Instructors would visit schools armed with colourful visual materials to teach basic water safety. Children were also taught not to run away from an emergency, who they should call in an emergency and also told that they should never put themselves in harm’s way trying to help a friend. They were also shown how to make basic flotation devices using 2-litre milk bottles tied with long rope that could be thrown to someone struggling in the water.

‘By the end of 2006, the programme had reached 6 500 learners who were taught what to do when they or a friend got into trouble in the water,’ says drowning prevention education coordinator Valerie Barlow.

A PASSION FOR EMPOWERING

The water-safety instructor complement has since grown to 31, distributed around the country as follows: two in Gauteng, nine in KwaZulu-Natal, 12 in the Western Cape and eight in the Eastern Cape. This number includes three team leaders. In addition, there are administrative staff, based at NSRI’s head office, who work to support those out in the field.

These are all individuals passionate about water safety and empowering children. They understand the bigger picture and how drowning deaths can affect families and communities long after the event itself has passed.

Bernice Cook, who joined the team on 25 May 2022, knows from first-hand experience how frightening water can be. ‘I could never swim,’ she says. ‘I grew up in foster care and children’s homes, and remember the time I was pulled under the water and nearly drowned. I prayed that one day I would learn to swim, and once I could, my mission was to help who- ever I could and give back to the community.’

Bernice is based at Hanover Park Swimming Pool in Cape Town during summer, and in winter, she works at Long Street Swimming Pool in the city centre. She also covers schools in Athlone, Rylands, Manenberg and Lansdowne. ‘I love teaching children and adults,’ she says, saying it’s amazing to see them ‘achieve something that they might never have thought possible. The smiles and hugs of gratitude bring tears to my eyes sometimes, but they make getting up in the morning and doing my job so worthwhile.’

Linda has a captive audience.

Bernice notes with a smile that even when she is not on duty, and simply walking in the neighbourhood, she’ll hear, ‘Hallo, Aunty Bernice,’ or ‘THAT’S the aunty who taught us at the school or pool!’

CREATING A LASTING IMPRESSION

Linda Dalamba, an educator in Gauteng, has a similar reaction. The children love the 112 song she teaches them, even devising a dance to go with it. When they see her out and about at the shops and recognise her, they start singing the song. While this is certainly gratifying, it means that the children are retaining the information she is teaching them. Knowing the emergency number is crucial information.

Instructors have a host of teaching materials at their disposal, and arrive at classes armed with plenty of audio-visual materials to aid their teaching tasks. Over the years, the department has created characters that the children can relate to: in particular, Nev the turtle and Peggy the penguin. Peggy wants to go swimming all the time even when it’s dangerous and Nev has to constantly tell her she can’t. ‘They get excited,’ she says, ‘and all of them, like Nev, want to warn Peggy not to get in the water.’ For the older children, the fascination lies with CPR. But what most of them have in common is that they have never been to the ocean and don’t know what a rip current is. Linda says the children find this so interesting, and can’t stop asking questions.

‘Seeing the children listening, asking questions and hearing them say, “I didn’t know that”, is reward enough for Linda, but she adds that it’s particularly gratifying that the teachers also want to attend the lessons.

Bernice brings the lesson to life with visuals that help to illustrate various aspects of water safety.

Linda taught swimming for six years, but never got the chance to teach in her own neighbourhood. ‘There are limited resources and little chance for formal swimming lessons to take place. There are high incidents of drowning, but through this programme more children will learn to be safe and know what to do if a friend gets into trouble in the water,’ she explains.

IDENTIFYING A NEED

‘Instructors are appointed according to priority areas,’ says Valerie. ‘These areas are identified using historical data on drownings as well as where large number of bodies of water are situated. We know all too well that drownings can occur anywhere and so for this reason, we also approach clinics, youth groups, creches and churches to offer instruction.’

But it’s in schools where the largest numbers of children can be reached. ‘The lessons are also personalised to give significance to the area where the target group lives,’ Valerie adds. For example, for a family living in a rural community where there is no piped water, the lesson is geared towards the safe collection and storage of water in buckets, while swimming pool safety would be emphasised in urban areas.

TECHNOLOGY THROWS THE NET WIDER

During 2019, the year before Covid-19 struck, NSRI’s Water Safety Department reached 574 099 people. During the pandemic, instructors continued as best they could via TV, radio and online classes. While the target of reaching 600 000 people this year is on track, the technology that was relied upon in the absence of face-to-face classes is still being used. ‘Instructors use social media to spread appropriate messages to prevent drowning, with infographics, videos and news being shared to highlight current trends, like weather patterns, holiday seasons, and so on,’ Valerie says.

NSRI’s Drowning Prevention Department works in line with World Health Organization recommendations, which has grown

to include in-water lessons. During the last few years, this has seen the introduction of NSRI’s Survival Swimming initiative that teaches children and adults at public swimming pools how to propel themselves to safety without panicking should they find themselves in deep water. This includes breath control, orientation, floating and moving through water.

‘Through a process of constant evaluation and development, the Water Safety Education Programme will continue evolving to ensure that the best techniques of teaching and skills-sharing will be used to keep the people of South Africa safe around water,’ Valerie concludes.

Instructors use social media to spread appropriate messages to prevent drowning, with infographics, videos and news being shared to highlight current trends, like weather patterns, holiday seasons, and so on.