Bobbing and Floating

The number one cause for death in children is Thailand is by drowning. This is a sobering statistic and one which prompts Rustic Pathways to take very seriously their Bobbing and Floating program. It seemed a daunting feat for 14 Americans to be able to teach 30 Thai children how to swim.  It was very hot out and the children were very eager.

Most of the children cooled off before swim camp started. We all ate lunch together. This was a great way to continue English lessons and to build relationships. Then it was time for swim lessons.

We and Mr. T helped us with Bobbing and Floating. Chris needed to go renew his Visa, but left us in very capable hands. And thank goodness - we needed all the reinforcements we could get from people that spoke Thai. There were very specific instructions given - there were four quadrants in the shallow end of the pool, where the children would go to demonstrate their skills.

Mr. T made sure that both groups of students understood all the commands to be used around and in the pool.

He gave the students the chance to show off their English skills - having them teach us the different commands, such as float, blow bubbles, come here, and more.

The kids were very excited to be in the water - they wanted to play, they wanted to improve and they wanted to show us what they could do in the water. Their skills ranged from novice to fairly experienced. Many of them could swim two or three strokes with proficiency, but some were pretty novice. The afternoon was well spent.
After an hour or so of splashing around, Mr. T wanted the swimmers to be evaluated. In groups of three, the children lined up on the edge of the pool, jumped in, demonstrated kicking, then swimming, then floating. Most students earned scores of 7-9 on a scale of 1 -10. Mr. T said that if the students didn't earn a 5, they wouldn't get snack.  Rest assured, everyone earned at least a 5, and some even earned scores of 10.
When it was time for the children to leave, we gave them their snack and them took them to the waiting song-taew that took them back to school.
Another great Thai adventure for the books.

Here's Gabby's reflection on the day:

Yesterday, we were faced with the exciting challenge of helping teach local kids how to swim. The twist? All the kids spoke Thai and all of us spoke English. Embracing the task with open arms and one-piece bathing suits, we jumped right into the pool. The pool was divided into four quadrants, one for floating, one for kicking, one for diving, and one for strokes. Many of the kids were comfortable in the pool, but there were also a few kids who clung to one of us for comfort. While the activity was incredibly fun and somewhat exhausting, the reason behind the “Bobbing and Floating” activity is much more serious. Chris told us that the leading cause of death for children in Thailand is drowning in the rice fields, which put the importance of our efforts into perspective. Getting to know these kids was amazing and we all had a great day.