Mangaluru: The PG department of Journalism and Mass Communication (MA JMC) of St Aloysius College (SAC) conducted ‘Schwimmen’, a two-hour talk and interactive session on the importance of swimming, for the parents of special children on March 29. The event took place at Arivu Intervention Centre in Shakthi Nagar.
The event was organised in collaboration with Arivu, an early intervention centre for special children and people with learning disabilities.
The speaker of the session was Sharath Kumar Shetty, swimming instructor at the St Aloysius swimming pool.
“When you are playing in the water, you feel happy and this will reduce all your physical, mental and social stress. I have trained a girl of twelve years of age, who had a bent backbone. After three years of training in swimming she was able to walk straight,” said Sharath Kumar Shetty.
The parents actively interacted with the speaker and cleared their doubts and queries.
“Swimming is more than a medicine; it helps special children improve their mental, social behaviour, and physical health. It also helps hyperactive children concentrate on one particular thing. We would like to provide special sessions on swimming for special children twice a week, after summer at the St Aloysius swimming pool,” he added.
Poornima Bhatt, administrator of Arivu said, “Swimming is one sport that enhances all our five senses and it is proven that hydrotherapy can systematically train children. This is the first time in Mangaluru that the students are coming up with such an initiative for special children.”
Radhakrishna Bhatt, treasurer of Arivu trust, Tia Boban, Assistant Professor, St Aloysius College, social work students and teachers of the Arivu intervention centre were present.
