US professor works to prevent drownings in Vietnam
Bill Ramos, director of the Indiana University Aquatics Institute, has joined the staff of Swim for Life Vietnam, to teach drowning prevention to Vietnamese youth throughout the country.
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Swim for Life Vietnam, a program under the international nongovernmental organization Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, teaches elementary school students water safety and swimming skills.
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Every day 11 children drown in Vietnam, said a Swim for Life official, noting that the program has taught basic aquatic skill classes to more than 72,000 children in just the past two years.
Assistant Professor Ramos will support the Swim for Life Vietnam academic research branch by traveling to the country, evaluating the effectiveness of the program and offering suggestions for improvement.
His involvement will in turn help garner additional support for the organization from international groups like the World Health Organization, Vietnam National University and the Vietnam Ministry of Health.
Indiana University has a rich history of volunteering and academic exchanges with the Southeast Asian country of Vietnam. The University Coach for College program, established in 2015, has sent student athletes to teach academics and sports in disadvantaged schools throughout the country.
As another example, earlier this year, the University McKinney School of Law joined with the Vietnam National University in hosting a conference on intellectual property, said the official of Swim for Life.
Additionally, the University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training co-sponsored a Vietnam Young Leader Awards program under which they presented grants and scholarships to selected state employees and researchers to continue their post-graduate studies.
The School of Public and Environmental Affairs also houses an initiative aimed at conducting research and training in Vietnam developmental policy. Lastly, Indiana University had sent Professor Ernest Talarico, Jr. of the School of Medicine to lecture at several Vietnamese medical schools earlier this year.
The U.S has become an increasingly popular destination for Vietnamese students to continue their post-secondary education. There are now more than 21,000 Vietnamese students enrolled in U.S institutions of higher education, and they contribute more than US$919 millions to the U.S economy.
Vietnam is currently the 6th largest country supplying international students of higher education to the U.S, said the official, adding that the participation of Indiana University in the Swim for Life and other programs is a direct outcome demonstrating the U.S-Vietnam relation is growing.
(Source: VOV.vn)
