• Multicultural

More familiar with the majesty of mountains than the challenging swells off Sydney’s east it was a poignant experience for the Nepalese attendees after a tragic drowning of two young students from their community at Maroubra last summer.

Group of young people walking on the beach

Tamarama SLSC has reinforced their commitment to the safety of new migrants to the community by hosting an important beach safety workshop late last month.

This time it was a group hailing from Nepal who were the beneficiaries of the knowledge of the lifesavers.

Almost 50 people attended the one-day workshop with many of them enjoying their first occasion at the beach.

The workshop was delivered by surf lifesavers from Tamarama SLSC and encompassed standard safety messages such as swimming between the red and yellow flags, how to signal for help and how to identify rip currents.

Tamarama President Tim Murray said the club has embraced their role as educators believing its important to assist new migrants to adapt to the beach to prevent serious incidents from happening.

“As a club we’re committed to broadening our educational reach so that people from all walks of life can enjoy the beach safely.

“In addition as part of our diversity focus we will be inviting attendees to participate in our scholarship program for people from the CALD communities to work towards surf lifesaving certificates and become active patrolling members,” he said.

The program has been strongly supported by the SLSNSW education team who have been working hard to develop positive relationships across migrant communities.

“From a state perspective, it’s so important that we reach out to migrant communities and help them identify the dangers of the ocean. As Australians we sometimes fall into the trap of taking our knowledge of the ocean for granted,” said Community Education Project Officer Joanne Massey.

“From a young age we’re taught to swim between the flags or to raise a hand for help, but that’s not the case elsewhere in the world and our aim is to continue educating everyone to ensure they can enjoy the beach safely,” she said.

The success of the program can be attributed to the fact that Tamarama volunteers so willingly embrace their role, not only as lifesavers but also as ambassadors within their community.

 

Thursday 7 Decemeber 2017

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