SPOLA becomes a GLSA Club Member
Greece 17.08.2022. The Somali Professional Ocean Lifeguard Association (SPOLA) became a Club Member of the Greek Lifesaving Sports Association. The routine role of a lifeguard to monitor activity in Mogadishu beach is absent. In this context, the SPOLA was born. SPOLA was founded on 1/4/2022 by Asha Omer Geesdir, the former head of gender and child protection unit, office of the prime minister, and convinced the Banadir Regional Authority Governor to establish a lifeguard responsible for daily operations, tasks and procedures required to perform opening, maintenance duties, and closing of Mogadishu beaches and swimming pools.
The aim is to provide a plan to resolve safety of everyone near the pools and public beaches in which people are swimming, boating or engaging in other recreational activities. In the capital city, Mogadishu, the beaches and swimming pools have no lifeguards to monitor the swimmers neither trainers to offer CPR and first aid classes for people to learn new skills and protect those around them. Thus, drowning became the second leading cause of unintentional death among the people under 20 years of age. SPOLA’s overall commitment and responsibility is to develop an effective lifeguard system in charge of beach safety. These are the reasons that motivated SPOLA to apply and proudly be accepted as a Club Member of the Greek Lifesaving Sports Association, an organization whose membership spans in 32 countries and strives to enhance drowning prevention through water safety and lifesaving sport activities.
