Face in Water

Happy New Year Friends! We hope you had a wonderful holiday filled with much love, peace, joy and laughter! We certainly did and are ready for an amazing 2019.January 11, 2019
Update from Alissa: Preparing for Swim Mission Honduras 2019 in March
(Swim) Kim and I are preparing for our next trip to Honduras, which is set for Spring Break (March 16-23). This time we are expanding our team and hoping to make an even bigger impact:

We invite you to continue to follow our journey and hope you will be a part of the 2019 efforts. We will be posting updates on this GoFundMe Page with Swim Mission Honduras 2019 details and testimonials from all of us as to why we are choosing to give our time, passion, talent and resources to this mission.  Currently, our greatest need is for trip funds or air miles to help cover the cost of our flights. If you are able to add in your support for Swim Mission Honduras 2019  that would be amazing! 

We will be doing our best to keep our supporters connected to this mission as we continue to spread, love, joy, health, water safety and blessings to our Honduran friends. Thank you again for your generosity and support. We love you all. 

Blessings to you and yours in 2019. 
Alissa & Kim 


December 2018
We are going back for Swim Mission: Honduras 2  in March 2019!
When Alissa, Rene and I left Honduras this past March, our hearts were so full! ❤️ The beauty and growth and life we experienced after a week at The Cornerstone Foundation  was overwhelming.  While Rene delivered babies and saved lives in the hospital, Alissa and I were busy at the bi-lingual school delivering Colin's Hope Water Safety Lessons , teaching swimming in the ocean all day and educating the missionary families in the evenings with Not One More Drowning conversations with the adults and teens and Learn to Swim with Lou!  readings and activities with the children. 

What we accomplished in less than a week was unbelievable and so gratifying! And of course, we spent the trip home discussing how we could make it even better and more successful next year. Here's where we are in our planning: 

- We will be retuning for Swim Mission: Honduras 2  in March 2019
- Alissa is bringing her mom, daughter, step-daughter to volunteer! I'll let her give more info on that. 

Stay tuned for updates ❤️



ALISSA & KIM'S EXCELLENT SWIM MISSION (Part 1)
February 25-March 3, 2018

Alissa Magrum:  I  "do" water safety and drowning prevention 365 days a year in my role as Executive Director of Colin's Hope but in recent months, I have been inspired to DO more giving back on my own time -- off the Colin's Hope clock.  Service and volunteering have always been my thing. I grew up doing service first with my family- then going on mission trips with my youth group, leading alternative Spring Break trips in college and even a year of full time service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Oklahoma.  I have now spent the last 20 years in the non-profit world and most of my volunteer hours have gone directly into my work.  Sure, I always get in  volunteer hours here and there, but it never seemed enough. Something was missing. 


Last year I allowed myself to start dreaming. I wanted to take my water safety knowledge and experience to places and children around the world (specifically places with beaches). I wrote some things down in my journal and began building a vision in my head of going on Swim Missions.  I imagined it would take a few years to plan and time to save the money to embark on the mission but I knew that if I dreamed it, I could make it happen. 

THEN Kim happened. We were thrown together on a water safety panel at the Safe Kids Worldwide Conference and over coffee or drinks or maybe both-- started dreaming and visioning together. Dreaming of how we could both do Swim Missions. Kim is the in-the- water guru and will train me to be her mini guru. I have a wealth of out-of-water safety education experience and resources (thank you Colin's Hope). Together we would make a great team...in a year or so...we thought. 

Immediately after our talk, Kim got the opportunity to go to Uganda to teach swimming and water safety! And I ended up with one of my BFF's- Renee, my 12 year old daughter- Ella and some friends doing Hurricane Harvey relief in Houston. That weekend inspired me to get back to my service roots and do some deeper volunteer work. 


A few months passed and Renee texts me from Honduras where she is on a Medical Mission. She says there is a Children's Center and a bi-lingual school connected to the hospital where she is serving and the Director wants me to come do water safety with the kids.  Oh yeah, how about at the end of February when she is going back for another stint in the hospital. (This was a little faster timeline than I was planning in my head). A quick peek at the calendar (TOTALLY CLEAR) and a quick text to Kim to see if she would come with me (SHE SAYS SHE IS IN) and we are suddenly going to Honduras on our first Swim Mission!!   We hope that this will be the first of many trips and we are ready and willing and embracing this journey.  Many who know me, know that I live by the saying, "Trust the Process", and that is what we are doing.

Kim Shults: My Swim Missions started a few months ago in Africa. I cannot wait to join forces with Alissa. Look out world! See my story here:   http://gofundme.com/swimafrica



Please support our Swim Mission however you are able- a donation to help offset the costs, supplies for the trip and kind, supportive cheerleading are all accepted. Most importantly, please share our story and raise awareness about the importance of swimming and water safety. We promise to chronicle our journey with videos, pictures and social media posts so that you can follow along. We know that we will make an incredible difference and we will have fun doing it.  Thanks for your support- it truly means a lot!

All donations are tax-deductible: 
Organization: Face in Water
Federal Tax ID: 74-3172304

If you'd rather send a check, you can send it to: 
Face in Water
3960 West Point Loma Blvd. Suite #H531
San Diego, CA 92110

Help Save Lives in Africa!

The end of the summer is always bittersweet for me.  As kids go back to school and swimming lesson chaos settles down, I transition into fall with a fresh perspective thinking, “What’s next? Who needs my skills?”

So there I am- contemplating the next step, when I receive an e-mail asking me to go to Uganda for Africa Water Safety Outreach 2017, an initiativej aimed at sharing Water Safety Education and Drowning Prevention in Africa.


As I drink my purified spring water, I read that 95% of children fetch water for their home livelihood from valley dams, open wells, rivers, lakes and other open water sources. In 97% of African districts, children cross rivers and other water bodies as they walk to school. They are exposed to drowning risks every day.
They asked for help from Face in Water. I know the World Health Organization Drowning Statistics. This breaks my heart. What can I do?

Feeling at least a little useful, I tell them I can send swimming and water safety curriculum for the event. They thank me and tell me more about the event:
– 9 African countries are attending the outreach
– 300 children will learn how to swim
– 50 adults will learn to swim and be trained as swim instructors

Then they ask me the perfect question at the perfect time…
“Can you or a member of your organization be able to travel to Africa to help?” 
 

Uhhhhh…no! Yes? Yes! How can I say no? Here I am looking for purpose and it came right to me. If there is one thing I can help with, it is teaching children how to swim and training instructors.

I think of these sweet children, making their way to Lake Victoria so they can provide water for the family. I think of the kids walking miles to school because their desire to learn is strong enough to cross rivers. Because water and education are valued.

I ask about funding for the long trip to Africa. They explain that I will need to be a volunteer, as they are fundraising to provide accommodations for the 50 Instructor Trainees so they don’t have to canoe 30+ miles daily for the training. I laugh to myself about my first-world problems and assure them that I will be there. Especially if someone is willing to canoe 30 miles a day to learn from me!

Face in Water (501c3) is sending me to Uganda, Africa September 30. It’s the next logical step. I can change drowning statistics. I don’t have much time, but I know I can do this with some help. Just a share or a like or a forward. Advice on traveling in Africa. Positive vibes and thoughtful prayers. Mosquito repellent. Anything and everything helps. All donations are tax-deductible. 
Thank you.

Every donation helps!This is a VOLUNTEER effort, so money raised will cover travel expenses, preparations, accomodations and food.