Charlie the savior at Aiantas Ag. Dimitriou
Agios Dimitrios 10.04.2024. In a Tae Kwon DO club that lists many young athletes, I was invited to go again, as last December. I met again after consultation with the Club Master. The invitation was clear: “Will you be able to come again for the fairy tale? The children want it!” And so it happened, this time with another book authored by our university teacher, Stathis Avramidis. The book was: “Charlie the savior”.
The 17children, as soon as they saw me holding the fairy tale, were excited and surprisingly some who were not there last time, asked me what I will read to them. So I made them sit in a semi-circle, I sat in the middle and started to read them about the story of little Charlie which as I told them, and they let out an exclamation of excitement, because it is a true story. Their participation came early, as most of the children had some contact with a lifeguard. Either is their brother, or their parent. In fact, someone ostentatiously pointed out to me that “When my mom was stung by a bee at the beach, a lifeguard helped her”. Some other children snickered when they heard that Charlie was afraid to go swimming, while their fellow athletes put them in order saying “You didn't know how to swim when you were younger either, so don't laugh.” I tried to tell the children not to laugh when they see a child who can't swim or when they see them with armbands when they don't use them. I kept reading and towards the end, where Charlie leaves for sky, the children started asking me if Charlie will come back and why he has to leave. My cowardly answer, because I didn't want them to understand the truth, was that “Everything in life happens for a reason”.
Ending the fairy tale, the lifeguard games were in order, but the time had passed so quickly without me realizing it, that the biggest group which was preparing for a competition had arrived and the scheduled training had to be done and I didn't have the chance to play with them. But I'm saving it for next time in a while as the kids were disappointed we didn't get to play and so I gave my word to get back there and play the game as soon as possible.
Η Ένωση Αθλητικής Ναυαγοσωστικής Ελλάδος (ΕΑΝΕ) είναι μέλος των οργανισμών International Life Saving Federation, International Life Saving Federation of Europe και Mediterranean Lifesaving Confederation. Στη διδασκαλία χρησιμοποιήθηκε εκπαιδευτικό υλικό της ΕΑΝΕ στο πλαίσιο του project "Safe Greece" με την στήριξη του Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. Εικόνες: Μαρία-Φοίβη Νικολοπούλου.
