Very few children in The Gambia know how to swim, despite the fact that the majority of people live close to the coast or the river.  Traditionally they are taught to fear the water, rather than how to stay safe in and near it. 

Last year we heard of the death by drowning of Robert Jarjue, one of the first children to enrol at Mary’s Little Lambs School.  He was a clever and joyous child with a bright future. Aged 14, he went to the beach with other friends to play football. After their game they decided to play in the sea – none of them could swim properly and sadly 7 of them including Robert drowned.

Lisong, founder of Mary’s Little Lambs and one of our local partners in The Gambia, told us of Robert’s death and asked if we could find a volunteer who could teach swimming and water safety, in the hope of preventing such tragedies in the future.  Quite by chance, earlier this year we were approached by Kate, a student from Dublin University, who is a qualified swimming instructor and who was looking for a volunteering opportunity where she could make use of her skills.

In May Kate went to The Gambia for a placement of just over 5 weeks.  The teachers at Mary’s Little Lambs were able to make links with a Gambian organisation called Swim For Life, and through them obtained use of a swimming pool.  The school selected 50 pupils to take part in the lessons, targeting the age group most likely to go to the beach on their own – Kate also gave water safety lessons to younger primary children and for the nursery school she gave the children swimming experience in an inflatable swimming pool at the school. At weekends and holidays she gave lessons to parents and teachers, helping to ensure that local people have the knowledge to help their children learn to swim in the future.

Getting nursery children used to playing in the water safely

The children demonstrating their swimming skills

Altogether Kate and the Swim For Life team taught 50 children who previously had little or no swimming experience how to swim and stay safe in the water.  They learned freestyle, backstroke, underwater swimming and life-saving.  At the end of the placement a special event was held where children could demonstrate their swimming skills, culminating in the award of a swimming cup – this will be presented annually in Robert’s name.  The event was filmed for Gambian TV – please do watch the video below which is inspirational – you can hear Kate speak and for those of you who have been to The Gambia and know how scared Lisong is of water – enjoy watching her having a go at swimming herself!

Kate says: ‘I am proud to say that, along with the impressive Swim For Life team, I have left fifty new capable swimmers in The Gambia. Only a couple of these children had swimming
experience prior to our lessons and after four weeks all of these children could swim a full
length of the pool with ease’.

Finally, from Lisong:

‘This work was helpful to the school, the parents and Robert’s family. The school was introduced to a new sport, swimming. Children acquired a new life skill. Parents are now confident and willing to encourage their children to swim instead of stopping them. The experience provided the confirmation that with dedication and determination one can achieve one’s dream of helping humanity: 50 children were able to swim in one month and our overall objective of helping these children from drowning may be realised in future. More schools have become interested in swimming and are making enquiries to have swimming programs in their schools.

Thank you, Kate, for coming to do the swimming lessons to help the school, the parents of Robert, Robert’s friends and the community. You have helped us come to terms and have a closure of his death. You have helped us to make him live forever by swimming for him, saving other children’s lives. You have energised the sport of swimming and given the parents confidence to allow their children to learn how to swim. You made the children happy and developed their self-esteem. The experience at the beach is cherished by the children. They will never forget you.’

What skills do you have to share?  To discuss how you could share your skills in a meaningful volunteer placement contact dianne@travel-peopleandplaces.co.uk

To read more about Mary’s Little Lambs and the way volunteers can support this programme click here.