Amos Kiprop has been working in partnership with Royal Life Saving WA for a number of years as the Sports Coordinator for the Kitwek Association. The Kitwek people come from the Rift Valley region of Kenya, where swimming and water safety education is not a priority due to a lack off access to swimming locations.
Over the past few years Royal Life Saving has been working with Amos to create and implement a tailored Swim and Survive program for adults and children from the Kitwek community, which has run extremely successfully. Amos was then invited to become a member of our Multicultural Steering Committee, assisting us as we plan and implement culturally appropriate swimming and water safety programs for multicultural communities across WA.
Amos says the partnership that has developed between Royal Life Saving and the Kitwek Association has been extremely important. “It has helped our members to participate in water recreational sports like swimming. The vast majority of our members do not know how to swim, and through this association, they have learned to swim along with their children. As the programs are tailored to suit them and their schedules this partnership is making a real difference in our community.”
The Swim and Survive program, run at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre, has received an overwhelmingly positive response from the Kitwek families who have taken part, with a survey conducted by the Kitwek Association registering a very high score for this initiative. Amos says the positive response is something he expected as this program doesn’t only provide valuble skills.
“One of the biggest impacts of these programs is making Kitwek Community members have that sense of belonging and integration. Australia is a multicultural society and the lifestyle is centred around the beach areas during the hot months. Our members were scared of going to the beach as their colleagues were good swimmers. This has now changed and our members are happy to go to the beach with their friends and families. The safety impact is also important as migrant communities have a lot of water safety challenges due to their swimming difficulties.”
Royal Life Saving WA appreciates Amos’ contribution in assisting us to get this program up and running in his community, and looks forward to seeing the further development of the program over the coming years. Amos says he also looks forward to the development of this important partnership. “We want to thank Royal Life Saving for all you have done to make the Kitwek swimming program a success. I would like to see a strengthened partnership with more tailored programs for our community, discounted rates to help more people take part, and more funding towards the children with special needs who cannot afford to pay for their swimming programs.”
You can help us to provide more of these programs through our Royal Life Saving Swim and Survive fund. If you’d like to make a difference for families like those in the Kitwek community please consider making a donation at the link below.
