Free swimming lessons for children in rural areas

For nearly 5 years, every summer, many children in the old Dinh Yen commune (now Lai Vung commune, Dong Thap province) have been able to participate in free swimming classes. Through the classes, children not only learn how to swim, but also equip themselves with knowledge and skills to identify dangers and survive in water environments, contributing to the local government's efforts to prevent and combat child drowning.

Free swimming classes attract many children in Lai Vung commune to participate.

In recent times, the old Dinh Yen Commune Youth Union (now Lai Vung Commune Youth Union) has maintained free swimming lessons every summer, attracting a large number of local children to participate. This year, the classes will take place from June to the end of August 2025. Secretary of Lai Vung Commune Youth Union Le Thi My Nga said: “The locality has many crisscrossing rivers, posing a potential risk of drowning accidents.

Faced with this reality, the Commune Union coordinated with the owner of a private swimming pool in the area and Ms. Vo Thi Kim Hue, a Physical Education teacher at Dinh Yen Secondary School, to organize free swimming classes for children. The classes take place from Monday to Saturday every week to equip children with swimming skills and water safety skills, contributing to preventing drowning accidents in children.

Every summer afternoon, at the private swimming pool located in An Binh hamlet, Lai Vung commune, the atmosphere is always bustling with the laughter of children. The swimming class is lively, the children are eager to participate. If in the first sessions, some children are still shy, after 2-3 sessions, many children are bolder and more confident when going into the water. Each class has about 15-20 children of different ages.

Under the dedicated guidance of Ms. Vo Thi Kim Hue, the children learned basic swimming techniques. At the beginning of the lesson, Ms. Hue had the children warm up, get used to the water, then demonstrate the frog swimming, freestyle swimming, etc.

Not only teaching swimming techniques, Ms. Hue also integrates water games for children to play, thereby helping them recognize how to handle dangerous situations. At the same time, Ms. Hue also propagates and educates children about life skills and knowledge about drowning prevention, contributing to raising safety awareness when playing near water.

After many lessons, the children became bolder and more confident when in the water.

The Commune Union mobilized funds for organizing swimming classes from socialized sources. To maintain the swimming classes, we cannot fail to mention the dedicated contribution of Ms. Vo Thi Kim Hue. Over the past 5 years, Ms. Hue has not been afraid of hardship, spending her time to teach free swimming lessons to hundreds of children in the commune.

Sharing the reason for her commitment to this job, Ms. Hue said that the locality has many rivers, which pose a high risk of drowning accidents for children. With her expertise in physical education, she volunteered to teach swimming classes for children with the hope of helping children learn to swim, ensuring safety when playing in the water, and limiting drowning accidents.

“Teaching swimming is quite hard work, but every time I see a child learn to swim, I feel very happy, all my fatigue disappears. That is the motivation for me to stick with this job for many years. Besides, every year, I participate in swimming skill training classes organized by the province to improve my expertise, to better serve the swimming teaching work,” Ms. Hue confided.

Every summer, Lai Vung Commune Youth Union organizes 4-5 free swimming classes, each class has 15-20 children participating. After about 20 lessons, most of the children know how to swim, bringing joy and peace of mind to their parents. Ms. Le Thi Nhung, residing in An Khuong Hamlet, Lai Vung Commune, shared: “My family is in difficult circumstances, my husband works all day, I am also busy so I have not let my daughter Tran Le Ky Thu (8 years old) learn to swim.

Ms. Vo Thi Kim Hue teaches children how to swim.

Introduced by the Commune Union, I took my child to a free swimming class. After 8 lessons, my child knew how to swim, so I felt more secure. The class was near my house and held in the summer, so it was very convenient, saving costs and time for transportation. I was very happy."

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan (An Loi B hamlet, Lai Vung commune) said: “I have 2 children learning to swim under the instruction of Ms. Hue. The older child already knows how to swim, the younger child (6 years old) has only had 2 lessons. Ms. Hue teaches very enthusiastically, I feel very secure when letting my children learn to swim here.”

Realizing this meaningful activity, some parents with conditions have also voluntarily supported more funds for the Commune Union to better organize swimming classes for children. Ms. Le Thi My Nga, Secretary of Lai Vung Commune Union, added: “After 5 summers of organization, the swimming teaching activity of Lai Vung Commune Union has become an activity with many practical meanings, creating a healthy playground for children in the commune during the summer. In particular, the class has helped children learn to swim, equipped them with skills to prevent and fight drowning, contributing to raising parents' awareness in ensuring safety and preventing drowning accidents for children”.

MY XUYEN

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/xa-hoi/202508/day-boi-mien-phi-cho-tre-em-vung-nong-thon-1048146/