Ea Kar strives to reduce the pain of drowning accidents

08:29, 22/09/2023

Nearly 4 months have passed, but the family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong in Ham Long village, Xuan Phu commune (Ea Kar) still has not overcome the pain when her son Dang Dinh Van (born 2012) suddenly passed away due to a drowning accident.

Ms. Huong's family is poor and has no stable jobs, so they took advantage of the summer vacation to leave their three children with their grandmothers to go work in Binh Duong . Van is the eldest son of her family. He is smart, agile, obedient, and often helps his mother take care of his second brother who has cerebral palsy. On May 21, 2023, his grandmother also went to work, Van was home alone, was invited by a friend to go catch birds, bathe in the pond, and never returned. Ms. Huong sadly said: "There are many ponds around this area, storing water for production. Van doesn't know how to swim yet, so his family always told him not to go near them. That was the first time he bathed in the pond but also the last time."

According to a survey by the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ea Kar district, from 2020 to present, out of 23 cases of children with injuries, 19 cases were drowning accidents. In 2020 alone, the district had 8 children die from drowning; in the first 8 months of 2023, there were 5 cases of drowning. There are many causes of drowning accidents in children in the district, but through statistics of deaths, the main causes are: the attention and supervision of families, schools, communities and society are not regular and close. Children are not really aware of the dangers of bathing in rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. Meanwhile, in the district there are many ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, but the system of signs and warnings of danger in areas at high risk of drowning is not complete, especially in self-dug ponds.

Teachers at Phan Chu Trinh Secondary School (Ea Pal Commune, Ea Kar District) teach swimming to students.

Faced with this situation, in recent times, all levels, sectors, organizations, and schools in the district have made efforts to implement many measures. In addition to implementing the construction of 16 communes and towns that meet child-friendly standards, the district has chosen Ea Kmut and Ea O communes to build the model of "Safe houses, preventing and combating accidents and injuries".

From sponsored projects, Ea Kar district has organized 54 swimming classes for over 1,000 students from 6 to 15 years old in 8 communes in the project area; invested in building swimming pools at 11 primary and secondary schools.

The District People's Committee has directed agencies, units and schools in the district to strengthen propaganda andeducation to raise awareness; promote the movement of teaching safe swimming to students in schools; strengthen coordination between schools and families to manage and supervise students during school breaks and summer vacations; guide facilities, organizations and individuals on organizing swimming lessons, support, reduce ticket prices, swimming lessons costs and related services for students and children.

Overcoming the difficulties in facilities in organizing swimming lessons and drowning prevention skills, especially in remote areas, Ea Kar district has also focused on directing, mobilizing, and integrating socialized capital sources to invest in building swimming pools for schools, bringing practical results. For example, at the end of 2017, Phan Chu Trinh Secondary School (Ea Pal Commune) was sponsored to build an floating swimming pool, bringing joy to many students in the communes: Ea Pal, Ea O and Cu Ni. Or La Van Cau Primary School (Ea Sar Commune) was also supported by the Da Nang City Disaster Prevention Community Fund with 600 million VND, and the Ea Kar District People's Committee matched 150 million VND to invest in building a swimming pool in 2020 to help more than 600 students of the school to popularize swimming.

La Van Cau Primary School (Ea Sar Commune, Ea Kar District) was sponsored to build a swimming pool, helping students learn to swim.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Ea Kar District People's Committee Tran Duc Luong said: From the policy of mobilizing social resources, 8 communes of the district including: Cu Hue, Ea Kmut, Cu Ni, Ea Dar, Ea So, Ea Pal, Cu Prong, Cu Bong were selected to implement the Project "Supporting the implementation of effective and sustainable interventions to prevent drowning in Vietnamese children" sponsored by the Global Health Advocacy Organization, USA (GHAI). The District People's Committee has also connected with the Da Nang City Disaster Prevention Community Fund to support funding for building swimming pools for schools. To complete these projects, in addition to the average funding of 600 million VND/project, the Ea Kar District People's Committee has provided additional funding from the district budget from 150 - 300 million VND/project.

Nguyen Xuan

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