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When our daughter Ruby was six months old, we enrolled in Red Cross lessons at our local pool. Those first few lessons were tough, with a crying unhappy baby but we stuck with it. Very quickly Ruby started to gain confidence, and with that a love of the water. She is so proud of every level she completes and looks forward to spending time at the pool each week. This past winter Ruby started synchronized swimming, and those Red Cross swimming lessons helped her pick up the choreography and strokes more quickly.  Those basic swimming skills are the foundation of all water activities like diving, snorkelling, paddle boarding, skim boarding and more. 
 

Swimming back to shore wasn’t exactly how the kayaking day trip was supposed to end. It was a warm, sunny day in July when Serge, his wife Carole and their youngest son, Xavier, decided to head out in their sea kayak to explore Skull Island, not too far from their cottage in southeastern New Brunswick. The water is usually relatively calm in the bay and warm, perfect for kayaking.
 

Ah August, when summer is in full bloom. It’s a beautiful time of year with hopefully plenty of sun and heat. It is also the time when you have to start thinking of autumn. For us, that means thinking of activities for our son, particularly swim lessons.
 

Do you imagine drowning to be splashy and loud, with arms flailing and screams for help, as perhaps seen in a movie? If you thought you could hear if a loved one was drowning, you would be sorely mistaken. The reality is that someone could be drowning a few feet away from you and you wouldn’t know it – because drowning is often silent.

It’s International Women’s Day so let’s shine a spotlight on some inspiring women who, with barriers removed, show they can achieve amazing success. Here, we pay tribute to the many remarkable women in our organization or who have used our programs as a springboard to enlighten theirs or others’ lives. 

It’s the time of year when many schools have a spring or March break and often families will take advantage of the time off to travel or get active. Whether it’s preparing to take a tropical trip or getting ready to entertain out-of-school youth, here are some tips to get ready.

In Mali, most infant deaths are associated with diseases that can be treated with medication. What kills babies, among other things, is that these diseases are often detected too late. Why? There are a number of reasons, but in Koulikoro, in the villages where the Red Cross team is working, one of the biggest reasons seems to have to do with tradition.

Even though colder months keep kids indoors more frequently, it’s still important to wonder where they are. Even though kids are home, most homes have access to the Internet, increasing the threat of online risks such as cyberbullying. Even inside a home, a youth can feel harassed, threatened and bullied as cyberbullying can be done anonymously and done across all social media and other online platforms.