CMIRC-Kru Payu Swim Children’s Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Program: The month of September saw the completion of CMIRC-funded survival swimming and water safety programs in Chiang Mai for fourth-grade students at the Wat Pa Paang Municipal School and the Wat Chiang Yuen Municipal School (relaxed student at right). We have now completed survival swimming and water safety instruction for 8 of the 11 municipal schools in Chiang Mai. We will complete the 10-lesson, 15-hour training program for the remaining 3 schools in the municipality during November and December of this year. So, once again this school year we will be able to say that every graduate of the eleven Chiang Mai Municipal Schools will have had the opportunity to learn survival swimming.
Oz Swim Aquatics of Brisbane Australia Training and Certification Visit: Eve Fraser, Director of Oz Swim Aquatics has informed Kru Payu, CMIRC, and Rotary Club of Patong Beach that she will bring a team of three internationally recognized swim instructors to do additional training for swim instructors in our Chiang Mai and Patong Beach programs. We also plan to invite instructors from our Rotary Club Lampang program to join us here in Chiang Mai for training. The Oz Swim Aquatic Team will be in Chiang Mai from November 11 to 17 and in Phuket from November 18 to 24. They will offer 8 hours of instruction at no charge and Swim Australia/Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association International Certification for those who choose to pay the certification fee. CMIRC-Safe Child Thailand has agreed to pay the international certification fee for our 4 lead instructors. This is a much needed training opportunity for our swim instruction staff and Oz Swim Aquatics has only asked for room and board for payment.
Kru Payu TV Appearance: Kru Payu, the director of Kru Payu Swim, appeared on MCOT Family Network (Channel 14) Morning Market Show to discuss water safety and drowning prevention. The show aired on Thursday, September 27 at 8am. Kru Payu did a great job describing the problem and he gave very prominent mention to the Chiang Mai International Rotary-Kru Payu Swim free program for teaching survival swimming and water safety. The mention of Rotary and “free” got a few approving oohs and aahs.
Australian Aid DAP Grant: The Australian foreign aid department solicits grant proposals from developing countries worldwide for program aid. This year CMIRC has applied for a grant of 350,000 Baht to fund the expansion of the Children’s Water Safety and Drowning Prevention Program in Phrao (working there with the Warm Heart Foundation), and at the BanYa Learning Centre (for Burmese refugee children) in Phuket (working there with the Rotary Club of Patong Beach and the British International School). We will know in November if we are awarded a grant.
Sad News: Finally, the children of Thailand and the Safe Child Thailand-Rotary Club of Patong Beach Children’s Water Safety Program lost a great man this month. PP Larry Amsden of the Rotary Club of Patong Beach has passed away. Larry is the reason CMIRC and Safe Child Thailand chose Patong Beach for the Safe Child Thailand-funded swim project expansion. He will be greatly missed by his Rotary colleagues in all of Thailand and by all the swim instructors from Chiang Mai and Phuket who he organized to make the Patong Beach project a great success.