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The CMIRC partnership with the Safe Child Thailand Foundation in the U.K. (SCT) has allowed us to expand the children’s water safety program to other cities and regions in Thailand. Drowning is the leading cause of children’s deaths in all of Thailand, so it is important to teach survival swimming everywhere in Thailand. Our plan has been to use the Rotary network of chapters and volunteers in Thailand to organize and build sustainable children’s water safety courses. We fund, provide training, and support for the pilot program and then the local Rotary chapter takes over to continue the program into the future.
This month we have learned that as a result of pilot programs funded by SCT and supported by CMIRC, the Rotary Club of Lampang intends to sponsor the continuation of the water safety program in Lampang using their own funds. (Drown-proof graduates, below.) Thanks are due to RC of Lampang PP Kritsada Pornrattanapitak for taking the lead on this project. We also recently learned that the Rotary Club of Patong Beach plans to continue its program in Patong Beach, Phuket using their own funds after the SCT-funded program is completed in mid-August. Thanks are due to Rtn Larry Amsden of the RC of Patong Beach for taking the lead on the project. We have also received an initial favorable response from the Rotary Club of Bangkok South to start a pilot program in Bangkok.
Finally, this month we learned from SCT that they have received additional donations to support children’s water safety programs in Thailand. They have decided to grant CMIRC an additional 4,000 GBP (175,000 THB) to develop those projects in cooperation with local Rotary clubs and NGOs in Phetchabun Province. Thanks are due to SCT Programme Director Charlie Drury, Acting Programme Director Rob Whitelaw and Child Sponsorship and Donor Engagement Manager Laurel Jansury for all of their support for our children’s water safety projects.