News

In 2018, with the aid of CIPRB and one of their trustees, Becky Horsbrugh, the Sreepur Village started to run swimming lessons in their pond in the village grounds.  The lessons, since this date, take place every year during the months of June and July, and are now taught by a number of Sreepur staff who have since been trained to facilitate the programme each year.

Approximately sixty children, aged 6-12, take part each year. They will learn how to swim 25 metres freestyle, tread water or float for 30 seconds as well as perform a rescue from dry
land.  As half the number of deaths from drowning occur in 1-5 year olds, having an older child trained in dry-land rescue is pivotal in striving to keep this devastating number down.

To coincide with Drowning Prevention Week on June 14, The Sreepur Village, Bangladesh would like to highlight the importance of its #SwimSafe Campaign this summer. 

On Monday the #SwimSafe schemes commenced once again in The Sreepur Village. They are run by a team from the CIPRB (Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh) who, along with assistance from the British RNLI, have devised learn to swim schemes that are run in both rural and urban areas in Bangladesh

This week in the UK its #DrowningPreventionWeek and in Bangladesh right now its the rainy season which means hundreds of families, in flood-stricken areas, will lose their homes but most importantly their lives. 

Recently, The Sreepur Village initiated a programme for the safeguarding and development of young children - a modified Anchal Programme of Centre for Injury Prevention Research of Bangladesh - CIPRB. 

After much research, it was noted that the children were most at risk between 9.00 am and 1.00 pm so, by setting up the Anchal Programme the children, under proper management and supervision, are now able to be kept safe while their mothers or family members attend to other activities. The programme also helps in the early development of children. An Anchal is a centre managed by trained ‘Anchal Ma’ (mothers), the supervisors who provide children with care and the opportunities to play and learn. 

The Sreepur Village would like to send their heartiest congratulations to Becky Horsbrugh who yesterday crossed the 16-km Bangla Channel from Teknaf to Saint Martin’s Island in the Bay of Bengal. She is the first British citizen to have completed this challenge

Over 800,000 Rohingya refugees are now living in the southern most districts of Bangladesh. Since the end of August over 600,000 people have crossed the border, having fled the violence in Myanmar. The majority of the new arrivals live in crowded makeshift settlements and there are no words to describe their sufferings, particularly the conditions of the women and children. In such a humanitarian crisis, we all need to help.

At the beginning of October, the Sreepur Village team, led by Pat, visited the Rohingya refugee camps and decided to produce sanitary products for the women and nappies for the babies.  According to Pat, these products are essential to the women and children as they face the harsh reality of life in the makeshift settlements. With the help of the Sreepur women and children, we were able to produce 4700 sanitary towels and 1600 nappies.