Drowning Prevention Philippines

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/floatPHL
INSTAGRAM: @float.philippines

Among the Philippines’ 7,000 islands, up to 3,000 children under 18 drown every year. The World Health organisation reports that the Philippines have the highest drowning rates in the world for children under 18. 

We are going to change this statistic. Our project is focused on drowning prevention, to ultimately improve the culture of water safety; which we are fortunate to have in Australia.

Float is starting in Baler, working with local elementary schools, surf/swim schools, NGO’s, resorts and government departments, including the Australian Embassy.

Baler is a vibrant coastal community in the Aurora Province. Approximately 1 million tourists spend time in Baler every year.

We are a team of Griffith University students from diverse technical backgrounds who are grateful to have had water safety education from a young age. We are students in law, commerce, sport management, science, business and health. We are past elite swimmers. We are surf lifesavers ourselves. Our ultimate goal from day one has been to establish a self-sustaining surf lifesaving club in Baler, for the first time ever.

We have worked tirelessly for the last 15 months, connecting the dots, liaising with governments, working in elementary schools, sourcing lifesaving equipment from Surf Lifesaving Australia (Southport Surf Life Saving Club) , partnering with organisations from the Philippines (Charlie Does) and collaborating with people from all over the world. We have been helping our Filipino partners any way we can. Meeting after meeting, email after email and roadblock after roadblock.

All that’s left to do is train, qualify and employ lifeguards to patrol the beaches. We are so, so close.

We have come so far and made it to here.

Inspired and ready for action, 10 fit Filipinos are ready to be Baler's first ever qualified lifesavers. They are ready to help the families, children and many tourists who care for this community. They are ready to prevent the needless drownings of Filipino children.

$4,000. $4,000 and Baler will have, for the first time ever, qualified lifeguards patrolling the beaches. For the first time ever Baler will have an established surf lifesaving club.

The money will go directly toward transporting, accommodating, feeding and putting these 10 locals through a lifeguard training course at Zambales Surf Lifesaving. One participant will be identified as an “instructor” and put through further training, in a Train-the-Trainer format. After which the lifeguard with “Instructor” status will travel back to Baler with the 9 other lifeguards and continue training lifeguards locally. The newly qualified lifeguards will be subsequently employed on the beaches at Costa Pacifica (a local resort).

$4,000 is all we need. The summer is coming, and that means tourists on the beaches. This money is needed asap to prepare for the influx so lives can be saved this season!

The future lifeguards, the beautiful people and tourists of Baler and the children who will be able to survive in the ocean, are asking you spare anything you can. $1, $5, $11.63, it doesn't matter, it all adds up.

It’s not us who will be thanking you.

It’s the children, parents, families and their loved ones who will survive in the ocean thanks to your donation.

$4,000 is all we need to achieve a goal set 15 months ago, one small goal toward changing the world.

Establishing this club is the first stepping stone toward establishing a chain of clubs all over the Philippines. 7,000 is a lot of islands. If Australia is just one, surely the Filipino people deserve to feel safe in the ocean.

You can give the Philippines the ocean safety and confidence in the water that we are so fortunate to have in Australia.

You can change the world.

Donate above.