Kathmandu Class starts off Great!

Hi everyone!

The LG class is off to a great start. We have 56 participants, and are teaching two separate classes. All our our students are very excited to be there, even though some of them have been working as lifeguards (without certifications) for years. Drew and I both feel that they are learning a lot of new information that will surely be put to good use and save countless lives. The local newspapers have also taken a big interest in our work as well! Yesterday there were close to 10 articles published in different papers about the class we are teaching.

Our teaching days start very early (630 am), and we usually get back to our hotel at 7pm! Our partner Yubraj takes us to lunch everyday. Yesterday he took us to a traditional Nepali lunch of dal bhat. It was Drew's first experience with the local fare, and he ate with his hands and made a big mess of his plate. The food was tasty though!

Speaking of food....Yubraj and the Nepal Swimming Association are making sure we never go hungary. We have more tea breaks than we can count and we also have cute box breakfasts and afternoon snacks.

Check out these pictures from our class and the newspaper!! We hope you like them!

Kathmandu w/ Drew day 2..kinda

Dear readers,

Today started early. Drew could not sleep past 6am and Bree woke up shortly after due to the seriousness of the light protruding through our dear curtains. Anywho, we went with Yubraj to scope out the pool where he is conducting his swim lesson project here in town. The series of lessons are held at a local hotel/apartmtent/fitness center on the outskirts of town. They are split up into two classes, boys and girls, and are held before and after the children go to school. The lessons are much larger than what we are used to, but they consist of the same concepts to the T.

After lessons were finished we headed into Thamel to arrange our rafting trip for later this week, and found a peddle rickshaw which we took to the "Monkey Temple." On the way up Drew was almost assaulted by taking a photo of one of the monkeys but we managed to push ourselves through the endless stairs and found ourselves among the locals at the top. Here are some photos.

More to come later...hope you enjoyed the pictures, we did our best :)

Love,

Drew and Bree

Excited to begin LG training!!

Hi everyone!

I am currently in Kathmandu awaiting Drew's arrival! He will be here tomorrow and we will begin teaching our class on Sunday. Our partner here, Yubraj, is really wonderful. He has been working day and night to get people registered for the class, and currently we have close to 50 people signed up with more on the way. He is even making t-shirts for all of the participants! I think that this will be a great program, and I know that Drew and I are both excited to have the opportunity to teach in Nepal.

While I have been waiting for Drew to get to Kathmandu, I went on a 7 day trek through Langtang National Park. It was amazing! Here are a few pictures that I thought everyone would enjoy.

Well that is all for now! We will post more when Drew gets here!!

August Projects Begin Today

Beginning today, Project: Swim International will be teaching more drowning prevention programs across South Asia for the next three weeks.

Lifeguard Training in Nepal

Two lifeguard instructors, Gabrielle Johnston and Drew Droegemeier, will be training as many as 60 lifeguard candidates in Kathmandu in the next few weeks. Candidates will learn first aid, CPR, and basic lifeguarding skills. Upon completion of the course, each candidate will receive American Red Cross certifications that will qualify them to work as a lifeguard anywhere in the world!

As you can imagine, there aren't many lifeguard positions available in Nepal. But these candidates will be able to obtain lifeguarding jobs throughout resorts in the Middle East and Africa, giving them the opportunity to earn a living to support their families!

Swimming Lessons and Instructor Training in Kerala

In the southern Indian state of Kerala, we have a four-person team that will be teaching a variety of programs. Jessica Silvertooth, Rebekah Streeter, Ellie Johnson, and Ishita Malaviya will have the opportunity to teach water safety education to local children. But they'll also spend lots of time training a local nonprofit group called Trauma Care how to teach our programs so that even after our volunteers leave, their work can continue.

The volunteers will also spend several days in the pool, working with children and adults, improving their swimming skills so that they can survive any water emergency!

Check back with this blog often over the next few weeks as our volunteers post their stories and observations from the field.

January's Project Accomplishments Exceed Expectation

Last week, all of Project: Swim International's 24 volunteers who had been working in India returned home, marking the end of the organization's most successful trip yet. Going into each project, there are always expectations as far as the amount of difference our volunteers will make. Not only did this group of 24 meet those expectations, but they went above and beyond anything Project: Swim International could have imagined for this trip!

A SUMMARY OF OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR SWIM INDIA, JANUARY 2010:

- 4,779 children were taught our Water Safety Education Program in 100 different sessions.
- Tour boat operators in the southern Indian state of Kerala were taught water safety and basic rescues.
- A "how-to" CPR video was shot and used to teach villages with over 1,000 people.
- 42 swimming lessons were taught with 538 participants.
- Successful partnerships were made in Varanasi and Kolkata, paving the way for future projects.
- Long-term plans were made with the Nepal Swimming Association.
- PSI's volunteers and their work were featured in 10 local and national Indian newspapers as well as Indian TV national news.

It's clear from their accomplishments that our volunteers' three weeks were busy and well-spent. Perhaps the greatest achievement is that our volunteers returned with a deep respect and appreciation for people from a different culture. They were able to work successfully in a challenging environment and gave back something that is very tangible and will ultimately result in lives saved.

Project: Swim International is already gearing up for our next round of volunteer projects in India and Nepal this August. For more information and to find out how you can be involved, please visit our website: www.projectswiminternational.org.

Thank you,
Ben Schaub
President and CEO

Progress in Nepal

I've been in Nepal the last couple weeks meeting with our partner here and exploring the region around Mt. Everest. Our partner, the Nepal Swimming Association, first helped Project: Swim International back in August when we sent our first team here to teach drowning prevention programs. Our missions are similar and the meetings went well. We both envision a long-term partnership where we try to provide our drowning prevention programs to as many children as possible across Nepal.

The last few days, I had the opportunity to do some trekking in the Solu Khumbu Mountain region, home to Mt. Everest. It was an amazing experience! One of the best things was to be away from all the smog and pollution that plagues much of South Asia. See some photos from the trek below.

-Ben


Prayer wheels around a stupa in the mountain village called Namche Bazaar.


Tablets with the Buddhist mantra "Om mane padme hum" carved into them can be found everywhere.


Me at Tengboche. Mt. Everest and Lhotse, the 4th largest peak in the world, provide the background.


Presenting Mr. Ashok Bajracharya from the Nepal Swimming Association with goggles and swim caps for the national swim team to use in their upcoming championships in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

LAST DAY IN INDIA!

Hello everyone! This is our last blog because it is our last day in India. We are all sad that this trip has come to an end but we are glad to be returning home. We have all had such an amazing experience and we are all glad to have had this opportunity. We have gained so much insight to the culture of India and everything it has to offer. We have all made lasting friendships with our group and we are sad to leave each other and return to reality. We will never forget this trip, how it made us feel, and what we have accomplished here. We taught over 3,000 children and adults and we are so proud of this accomplishment. Thank you all for following our trip and supporting us throughout! See you all on the flip side! LOVE TEAM BELIYA!
Becca, Stephanie, CJ, Nicole, Albert, and Stacy

MAMY POKO PANTS! (our chant)