As part of Love The Oceans’ commitment to the local community, we teach Sea Safety and deliver free swimming lessons to the school children on a weekly basis. Sea safety and swimming are essential skills that not only save lives, but also open a new avenue of possibilities: Despite the fact that 33% of the population lives within 25 km of the coast, very few Mozambicans know how to swim. We are aiming to change this in our area by giving free swimming lessons to the children from our local schools on Saturday afternoons. The lessons are crucial, not just to improve water safety, but also to encourage the children to get in the water and hopefully spark their passion for the Ocean. Adding swimming to their skillset also creates a new range of future job opportunities in ecotourism.
In August 2018 & 2019 Love The Oceans’ ran the first Sea Safety workshops with the support of Angel Swim London, providing two weeks of free swimming lessons to over 200 children each winter. As part of the workshop our Community Outreach Manager, Pascal Nhamussua, also achieved the internationally recognised STA Award in Teaching Swimming as the first Mozambique citizen, and 6 of our young adults from our Ocean Conservation Champions program were qualified as Aquatic Helpers.
To date, Love The Oceans’ Sea Safety Program has taught over 800 children and adults to swim since 2016.