Sink or swim: how Bangladesh is turning the tide against child drowning

A combination of swimming lessons and daycare centres is reducing the number of children dying from drowning
A combination of swimming lessons and daycare centres is reducing the number of children dying from drowning Credit: Susannah Savage 

In the village of Rampur in central Bangladesh children are playing in the communal pond – a common sight in a country where the majority of the population lives close to the water.

But while water is a way of life for Bangladeshis it also brings death, particularly to the very young. Drowning is the leading cause of mortality for children under the age of five – causing a shocking 14,500 fatalities a year.

The danger is greatest between June and October as the annual monsoon brings heavy rains and storm surges, leaving up to one third of the country underwater.

The country also has the highest population density of any large country in the world meaning its people have resorted to living right on the banks of its many rivers, such as the Ganges and Brahmaputra. 

Climate change is predicted to severely impact the country with sea levels expected to rise by up to 1.5 metres by 2100, placing the future of its population in jeopardy.

Bangladeshi children often use ponds like this one in Rampur to play in but the water can prove deadly to those who cannot swim
Bangladeshi children often use ponds like this one in Rampur to play in but the water can prove deadly to those who cannot swim Credit: Susannah Savage

Several kilometres from Rampur in the hamlet of Hafizpur the dangers of the water are known only too well. 

Last November, one-year-old Mahadi Hasan had travelled there to stay with his paternal grandparents. When Mahadi disappeared one day at around 2pm his grandmother Shamaunnahar Begum did not immediately panic.

“Everyone thought Mahadi had gone to play hide and seek,” she told the Telegraph, covering her tear-stained face with her scarlet hijab.

“After some time he didn’t reappear and the whole village began to look for him in the nearby houses but we couldn’t find him.

“Then someone suggested checking the ditches around my house.

“I ran there immediately and when I got in the water I could feel something with my feet, it was Mahadi.”

Shamaunnahar pauses to shoo away the other villagers who have come to hear her heart-breaking story.

“I pulled him out from the ditch and we sent him to the nearby health centre but it was too late, on the way he was no more.”

One-year-old Mahadi Hasan drowned while visiting his grandmother, Shamaunnahar Begum, 59. Here, Shamaunnahar stands near the water where he fell. 
One-year-old Mahadi Hasan drowned while visiting his grandmother, Shamaunnahar Begum, 59. Here, Shamaunnahar stands near the water where he fell.  Credit: Susannah Savage

Mahadi’s tragic story is typical of child drowning deaths in rural Bangladesh. 

In villages like Hafizpur many families depend upon agriculture to make a living, growing crops like rice or plants like jute for sale.

In order to irrigate land, villages channel water from the country’s many rivers and streams into ponds and ditches surrounding their homes.

These same water sources can prove deadly with 75 per cent  of all drowning deaths occurring within 20 metres of a child’s home. 

And economic growth has meant that since 2008 there has been a 35 per cent increase in Bangladeshi women in employment alone.

While this has seen the number of people living in extreme poverty fall from around 30 per cent in 2000 to 13 per cent today, children are increasingly left to look after themselves, thus placing themselves in danger. 

Now a new partnership between the Bangladeshi Centre of Injury Prevention and Research (CIPRB) and Bloomberg Philanthropies aims to tackle this by opening over 500 day care centres – known as anchals – and rolling out swimming lessons for children across villages. 

The initiative - introduced in seven districts covering a population of several hundred thousand - has reduced the number of children drowning by 80 per cent.

Sabina Khondoker teaches children to swim in a man-made bamboo pool in Chengain
Sabina Khondoker teaches children to swim in a man-made bamboo pool in Chengain Credit: Susannah Savage

The partnership between CIPRB and Bloomberg Philanthropies was first set up in 2013 when the organisations realised that they desperately needed to teach Bangladeshi children to swim and also provide a safe environment while parents were at work.

Its continued expansion has seen its projects reach an incredible 213,019 people in 2019.

In the village of Chengain, around 30 children stand restlessly on the banks of another pond. In groups of five they excitedly enter a man-made bamboo swimming pool constructed in its near end.

Under the watchful eye of two local instructors – one male and one female – they learn 21 different swimming techniques, such as front crawl and life saving, that could save their lives.

The children pass their training when they can swim 25 metres without stopping and tread water for 30 seconds.

“During the monsoon season I heard of so many children drowning near my home so it is so important for them to learn swimming,” said instructor Sabina Khondoker.

“It is not even about getting paid, the good thing is that the children of my village will be safe.”

Alongside the swimming lessons the partnership launched creches across rural Bangladesh, known as anchals

The anchals are open between 9am and 1pm after the CIPRB discovered that 60 per cent of children were drowning in the morning while both parents were at work.

 

A teacher keeps an eye on them and also teaches early numerical and alphabet skills.

Nahit Sultana is a teacher in an anchal in Rampur.

“I feel so happy to watch the children here and for the community it allows their sons and daughters to be danger free,” she said.

“The small honorarium that I get for running the anchal has also allowed me to pay for my son to attend a private tuition for his schooling so his future is brighter.”

Nahit Sultana runs an anchal in Rampur, which provides a safe place for children while their parents are at work
Nahit Sultana runs an anchal in Rampur, which provides a safe place for children while their parents are at work Credit: Susannah Savage

The partnership told the Telegraph that its success rolling out the scheme this year will see it expanded across Bangladesh over the remainder of 2019.

This further growth could not come at a more critical time with Bangladesh predicted to encounter increasingly extreme weather due to climate change.

Atiq Rahman, the executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, has said that by 2050, rising sea levels will submerge 17 per cent of the country and create around 20 million internal refugees.

Increased erosion of the country’s coastline is already causing up to 400,000 migrants to arrive in Dhaka each year, according to the World Bank.

Leaving their homes behind, these climate refugees typically end up in the city’s most undesirable and flood-prone areas.

Runa Akter, whose daughter fell through a hole in the floor of her house and drowned
Runa Akter, whose daughter fell through a hole in the floor of her house and drowned Credit: Susannah Savage

The "Bhola" slum in Dhaka is one such example.

Roughly 10,000 people live there and the majority have moved there from Bhola Island in the Bay of Bengal, after rising sea levels submerged whole villages.

"They are building their houses on top of water which aren't very structured," said Jean-Jacques Simon, the regional chief of communication for Unicef in South Asia.

"We are hearing stories every single day of children falling through the cracks in homes and into the water and drowning."

A Unicef report published earlier this month found that up to 19 million Bangladeshi children were at risk of dying from floods, cyclones and other environmental disasters linked to climate change.

Runa Akter migrated from Bhola Island to the slum with her husband after coastal erosion meant they lost their land.

While in the slum in Dhaka they had their first child, a daughter named Shila.

The family lived in a bamboo house, erected over swampy land below.  During the wet season, water would wash into the house through holes that were cut in its floor to allow the family to go to the toilet.

One day, during this time of the year, Shila's grandmother was looking after her while Runa went to work at a garment factory and her husband was labouring.

Shila, who was three at the time slipped through one of the holes and fell into the water below.

Her grandmother did not realise for an hour and a half and the young child drowned.

Runa told the Telegraph she still thinks about Shila all the time.

"Every day is a struggle for me and my husband," she confided.

  • Additional reporting by Susannah Savage

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