The hot summers and the prevalence of dams on apple and pear farms make for a deadly combination in the rural growing regions of the Western Cape. According to The National Sea Rescue Institute, (NSRI), many more children drown in dams than in the sea or even in swimming pools and, with an alarming 600 children drowning each year in South Africa, WaterWise education is the best way to help save lives.
Almost every farm school will have a sad story about preventable drownings, which is why Ceres’ Eoudia Erasmus is so passionate about the work that she does as a NSRI WaterWise Instructor and why the schools are so appreciative of her efforts. “We estimate that nine double decker buses full of children drown in South Africa each year,” Erasmus says, before asking the grade one to five learners at Welvaart NGK Primary School in the Warm Bokkeveld area of Ceres, “How many of you can swim?” Many put up their hands. “OK, now how many of you can swim when the water is as deep as from the floor to the top of the classroom ceiling?” None puts up their hand. Aside from the obvious instruction that it is dangerous to swim in dams and areas without adult supervision, Erasmus teaches the children what to do when they or a friend are in difficulty.
NSRI Waterwise Instructor Eoudia Erasmus and learners from Welvaart NGK Primary School in the Warm Bokkeveld area of Ceres
She tells De Kock Hamman of Ceres Fruit Growers, one of Tru-Cape Fruit Marketing’s grower shareholders, that most of the children walk past dams twice a day on their way to and from school, so the threat of drowning is a real one. Hamman, in turn, agrees and says that they are aware of these tragedies as there have been drownings in the past, even on a Tru-Cape farm adjacent to the Welvaart NGK Primary School where the WaterWise demonstration is taking place.
After teaching all the children how to remember the phone number for the ambulance service, 10177 and the PLAN (Pack, Look, Ask, Never) acronym, she dismisses the younger children and begins to teach the older ones, in grades four and five, the Triple H, (Hello, Hazard, Help) and lets them practice hands-on CPR on a dummy she has brought along to the lesson, designed to fit into one school period.
Tru-Cape’s Managing Director Roelf Pienaar said that if 31% of children that drown do so in dams each year, then everything possible must be done to prevent even one death. “The outstanding rescue work that the NSRI does on beaches saves many lives but we must all remember that WaterWise education is the best defence. “Tru-Cape salutes all the growers who contribute to the NSRI’s fund raising activities. It costs R236 470 per WaterWise trainer per year but considering that over one million children have had the benefit of WaterWise training since inception in 2006, this is a tried and tested system that we know works to help save lives.” he ends.
See http://www.nsri.org.za/waterwise/ for additional information and how to contribute.