I want to share a big win with you, three actually. For years the Lifeguards have relied on many small donations from the community. Our first big win was when the Mayor of Osa pushed through four of eight salaries making the Municipality a true partner in the program. The second big win happened when the Ventanas Beach Committee contracted two lifeguards for weekends and holidays, allowing us to expand our reach beyond Dominical and Playa Hermosa. Thanks to your donations and these partners, we have saved hundreds of lives and prevented many thousands of incidents.
This past April, we had our third big win. A grant from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) allowed us to pilot a new program called SafeBeach in the Marino Ballena National Park. What is SafeBeach? It’s a hybrid crime prevention and lifeguard patrol of at-risk youth with special training in crime prevention, ocean safety, basic rescue and first-responder/CPR.
Wearing bright-red t-shirts, the SafeBeach patrol walked the beach and parking areas looking for suspicious behavior and dangerous conditions. They had whistles, binoculars, a rescue buoy and were in constant contact with the police, park staff and lifeguards through a WhatsApp group. The pilot was a huge success. After 10 days, the patrol had 72 preventions and responded to 21 incidents including rescues, assaults and robberies. The pilot is being studied by the US Embassy and other regions. Congrats all around!Your donations and the partnership with the Municipality will keep the Lifeguards going. As for SafeBeach, I have high hopes for it here, and other parts of the country. Let’s see how it goes!
By Perry Gladstone
INFO: Perry Gladstone - co-founder of the Somos Foundation. He serves as President of the Costa Ballena Chamber of Tourism and Commerce (CACOBA) and lifeguards Costa Ballena.
