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5 YEAR TSUNAMI ANNIVERSARY APPEAL
The free children's swimming classes and school holiday coaching clinics at the Lighthouse Community Pool are now in hot demand! We hope to expand the current programs at the Lighthouse Community Pool to encourage more schools to include the free swimming classes in their curriculum.
We are currently seeking the support of donors to make this expansion possible! By employing an additional Coach as well as an Administration and Marketing Officer to promote the pool throughout the wider community, we will be able to ensure that the pool is utilised to its maximum capacity. Additional financial support will also enable us to coordinate transport for school groups located in rural inland areas who are currently unable to access the pool due to financial difficulties.
Click here to read more about making a donation to the Lighthouse Community Pool
Click here to donate!
School Holiday Coaching Clinics throughout December 2009!
Over 120 children have already registered for the December School Holiday Coaching Clinics at the Lighthouse Community Pool! It was fantastic to see so many children attend the Registration Day and Pool Party, overcoming their fear of the water and enjoying a morning of games and activities.
These children are now attending clinics over the coming weeks until they return to school in early January. Many parents attended the event and have now also registered for lessons, including many mothers who will now attend the Women’s Classes on Mondays.
About Lighthouse Community Pool
AdoptSriLanka, alongwith project partners SOS Velsen and Jetwing constructed a 25 metre swimming pool in Galle as a longlasting dedication to those who lost their lives in the Asian Tsunami of 2004. This project was made possible with generous funding from the Association of School and College Leaders on behalf of many schools in Surrey UK.
In June 2009 the 'Lighthouse Community Pool' celebrated its first birthday. Since its opening many hundreds of children from local schools and marginalised community groups have participated in free swimming lessons run by local coaches.
Designed by renowned Sri Lankan architect Channa Daswatte, the Lighthouse Community Pools offers daily swimming classes for the community of Galle. On Mondays, the pool is open only to women to ensure they also have the chance to learn to swim in a relaxed and culturally appropriate environment.
This pool was constructed because:
- Many children lost their lives by drowning because they did not know how to swim
- Many children are traumatised and have an enormous fear of water and the ocean, yet every day of their lives will have to go near the ocean living on coastal villages.
- There are very few public pools in Sri Lanka and in addition to children, very few people are able to swim.
For information on how to make a donation to this worthwhile project please click here
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Aussie Swimming Coach Lends a Hand
Children from the Galle community, including many ASL TWINS Schools, enjoyed their month long holidays in August by attending free coaching clinics at the Lighthouse Community Pool!
Over 130 children from 23 Sri Lankan schools attended these clinics during the month of August. For many children, these classes provided their first opportunity to step in to a swimming pool and for some, a chance to overcome their fear of the water since the tsunami in 2004.
We were incredibly lucky to have had Philippa Skipper, a qualified and experienced swimming coach from Australia volunteer at the pool for 4 months in 2009. Philippa volunteered daily, working tirelessly to improve the management of the pool and introduced new procedures and activities. Philippa worked alongside the Sri Lankan coaches to enhance the current training program as well as coordinating further training for the coaches in advanced coaching techniques and water safety.
The coaches were tested by Philippa in a senior swim and survive water safety examination according to Australian standards. She also coordinated donations of swimming items such as swimming caps, games and noodles from her family and friends in Australia.
AdoptSriLanka would like to pass on a huge thank you to Philippa for contributing her time to this project. Her energy and enthusiasm and passion for ensuring children feel safe and happy in the water has been valued by the pool staff, coaches, parents and children.
Philippa has generously agreed to stay connected with this project and act as a consultant from Australia. We look forward to continuing to work with her and hopefully see her back in Sri Lanka very soon,
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Philippa plants the 'Skipper'
Tree as a gift of thanks
from Jeevan and Sumith
the two coaches
from the Pool. |
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Background on Swim Lanka Program
On December 26th, when the Tsunami hit Sri Lanka a large proportion of the deaths and casualties were children. There are a couple of reasons for this; the first is that in Sri Lanka children account for approximately 37% of the total population - a large proportion, secondly children were physically less able to outrun the water or withstand the force of the water and/or debris and finally the key reason is that the children were unable to swim. In the years following the tsunami, AdoptSriLanka, thanks to our many donors, were able to fund a temporary swimming pool program run by SwimLanka in coastal villages throughout the southern province. Local children were able to learn to swim from qualified instructors and overcome their fear of water. Since this programme's conception, thousands of children have regained confidence in the water again.
Tsunami Program Picture Gallery
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| 2nd fibre glass pool, Rekawa |
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Arrival of first fibreglass pool, Tangalle |
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Graduates of the Swim Lanka, Swim for Life course, Tangalle |
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| Installation of first pool, Tangalle |
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Proud graduate of the Swim Lanka, Swim for Life course |
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Sri Lanka's Olympic swimmer, Julian Bolling at work in Tangalle |
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| Swim Lanka lessons in action, Rekawa |
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SwimLanka Pilot Project, Tangalle |
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