Learning to swim may be a rite of passage for many Australians, but not every child has had the same chance.
A Victoria University program has been giving life-saving water training to migrant children with little or no experience around water.
Aged six to 12, the children are migrants, refugees or youngsters living in detention centres, after arriving from countries including Burma, Sudan, Iran and Lebanon.
VU students training to qualify as swim instructors and lifeguards lead the children in five weekly one-on-one sessions.
Loretta Konjarski of VU’s College of Sport and Exercise Science said the project also helps VU students develop cross-cultural communication skills.
“The program gets our students out of their own comfort zones, and helps them better understand humanity.”
Many of the children have been sharing towels, borrowing goggles and swimming in their underwear or second-hand bathers.
But a recent $20,000 RACV Community Foundation grant has helped buy new swimwear, towels, goggles and equipment for the children.
The funding will also pay for bus trips to VU’s Footscray Park pool from the Western English Language School (WELS) in Braybrook, where the children study.
WELS outreach coordinator Anne Dawes said the program helps builds confidence in all aspects of their life in Australia. About 200 children a year have been made water-safe since the program started seven years ago teaching Sudanese teenagers to swim.
