Making Waves: Help Jamaican Youth Learn to Swim!

Depending on who you talk to or what you read, approximately 85 percent of Jamaicans cannot swim. That means the majority of the youth, unlike the ones pictured, are unable to enjoy the beautiful Caribbean Sea surrounding the island. My name is Emma. I am a member of my school’s Learn-to-Swim club, and I am a Certified Water Safety Instructor (RedCross). As someone who has grown up swimming and has continued to swim competitively, I find it essential to give back to the community and my fellow Jamaican youth. While I cannot single handedly turn children into national competitive swimmers over a summer, I want to teach them the basics of water safety. I am currently a volunteer swim instructor at my school teaching faculty children and middle schoolers to swim.

I’ve had a long standing interest in helping to reduce the number of non-swimmers in Jamaica, not only for water safety but to encourage recreational use of the country's natural resources. I have identified five children in the inner-city community of Grant’s Pen, Kingston, Jamaica, who are eager to learn to swim. Please help me to help them, by donating to this great cause, no donation is too small, by cash or kind. The children will have a minimum of 20 swim sessions over the 2024 summer vacation.

Your donation will go towards the expenses I will cover which include:

Swimsuits

Caps

Towels

Goggles

Diving toys

Noodles

Kickboards

Hydration

Transportation

Pool costs

A stipend for the Instructors

If you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Over the summer, I will publish updates of their progress. Thank you so much in advance!

-Emma