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研究显示 新移民遇溺风险高
New immigrants at higher risk of drowning: study

邝保罗不会游泳。实际上，56岁的他一直非常怕水。邝在香港长大，他的家庭没有足够的经济能力送他去上游泳课。此外，当时那里也缺乏公共游泳设施。
Paul Kwong can not swim. In fact, the 56-year-old is deathly afraid of the water, and always has been. When growing up in Hong Kong, his family never had enough money to send him to swimming lessons. And besides, pubic pools were scarce.

正是因为邝毕生都对水上活动敬而远之，因此在其全家定居安省后，他立刻送自己的两个女儿去上游泳课。两个小女孩第一次下水时年龄都还很小——当时她们一个是三岁，另一个是四岁。
His lifelong wariness of anything aquatic is precisely why Kwong enrolled his two daughters in swimming lessons after settling his family in Ontario. Both girls were young - one was three; the other, four - when they first took to water.

现在十年已经过去了。邝的大女儿已经完成了红十字协会游泳课程，小女儿则拿到了“英勇铜十字章”（Bronze Cross），即将成为一名救生员。她们都非常喜爱水上运动，但是对于邝来说，送女儿去上游泳课并不是出于娱乐目的，而是出于安全因素。
That was around ten years ago. His older daughter has completed a Red Cross swim program. The younger one has her Bronze Cross and on her way to being a lifeguard. Both enjoy being in the water, but for Kwong, getting them swimming was not based on recreation. It was based on safety.

“这关乎救生问题，”邝称，“我不会游泳，我非常怕水，所以我想让她们学（游泳课）会令她们终身受益，因此她们不会再有同样的畏惧。”
“It is live-saving issue,” says Kwong. “I can’t swim. I’m afraid of the water, so I thought putting them through (swimming lessons) would help them in life, so they would not experience that same fear.”

根据加拿大救生协会的研究显示，新移民不会游泳的比率是加国本土出生者的4倍。而那些移居加国不足5年的移民在游泳或泛舟时遇溺的风险更高。
According to a recent study by the Lifesaving Society of Canada, new immigrants are four times more likely to be unable to swim. And those who have been in Canada fewer than five years are at a higher risk of drowning when swimming or boating.

调查报告指出，有高达近80%的受访者表示，他们计划在今年夏季参加水上活动或是到水边游玩，但是其中有近20%的人表示自己不会游泳。与此同时，有31%的受访者承认下水会感到紧张，有一半的人担心子女在游泳时会遇溺。
The report states that while nearly 80 per cent of newcomers plan to be in or around water this summer, almost 20 per cent report they are unable to swim. Also, 31 per cent say they are “nervous” when around water, and half reported they are afraid of their children drowning while swimming.

这一点在华人移民中尤甚：有16%的受访华人移民表示自己不会游泳，有31%的人坦承怕水，更有高达67%的人担心子女遇溺。
For Chinese, specifically, the numbers are just as concerning: 16 per cent of the Chinese surveyed said they are unable to swim, 31 per cent are nervous when around water and 67 per cent fear their children drowning.

但是尽管数据并不尽如人意，却有多达92%的移民和华人认为游泳是必须学习的技能，同时，有相同数量的人认为子女应该在学校里上游泳课程。
But despite the grim numbers, 92 per cent of both immigrants and Chinese believe learning to swim is a necessary skill, and around the same number feel children should receive swimming lessons as part of a school program.

在上周六，一名中国留学生在卑诗省艾丽斯省立公园的湖中遇溺，其被救上岸时已经失去知觉，在被送到医院后不久就宣告不治身亡。据称那名学生是在班级郊游中与一个朋友游泳时“遭遇困难”。
Last Saturday, the lifeless body of a Chinese visa student was pulled from a lake in Alice Provincial Park in British Columbia. He died in hospital a short time later. It was reported he was on a class trip when he “encountered difficulty” while swimming with a friend.

据救生协会的Barbara Byers称，中国大陆和香港是最不注重水上安全和游泳课程的地区。她同时指出，这一点，再加上移民抵加后遭遇的有关水上安全的语言和文化障碍，使得华人移民遇溺的风险更高。
According to the Lifesaving Society’s Barbara Byers, mainland China and Hong Kong are at the top of the list for places that do not emphasize water safety and swimming lessons. She says this, combined with immigrants running into language and cultural barriers around water safety after they come to Canada, accounts for the higher drowning risk.

“许多移民来自并不注重水上安全和游泳课程的国家，” Byers指出，“除了缺乏技能，没有其他理由能够解释为什么他们的遇溺风险会更高。如果你不知道掌握游泳有多重要，你就不会去学游泳。”
“Many come from countries where water safety and swimming lessons are not emphasized,” she says. “There is no reason why they have a higher drowning risk, other than a lack of skill. If you don’t have any frame of reference to think it’s important, you don’t get involved.”

据世界卫生组织(WHO)估算，中国每年有112,000多人溺亡,其中有一半是15岁以下的儿童。世界卫生组织称，在中国，造成溺水身亡的因素众多，据2004年的一项研究估计，有80%的中国城市儿童不会游泳。
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates over 112,000 drowning deaths occur in China each year, half of which are children under age 15. The WHO states that the risk factors for drowning in China are “widespread,” and sites a separate study from 2004 estimating that 80 per cent of children in urban areas can not swim.

据中国官方报纸《中国日报》报道，今年2月浙江省的一个池塘中发现了5名儿童的尸体，据称这些儿童都是因为意外溺水死亡。
According to the state-controlled China Daily, five children were found dead in a pond in Zhejiang province back in February of this year, reportedly due to accidental drowning.

Byers表示，一些移民在抵达加国后仍然缺乏游泳常识。
According to Byers, that lack of swimming savvy remains after coming to Canada.

Byers在相关报告公布后表示：“前来加拿大的新移民与加拿大本地人往往对水上安全问题有着不同的认识或经验。”
“Newcomers to Canada often have different knowledge or experiences around issues of water safety,” said Byers in a statement after the release of the report’s findings.

“毫无疑问，学习游泳对所有加拿大人都非常重要。但是，随着人口结构的持续改变……我们必须确保我们尽自己所能，为每一个人提供培训和水上安全防护工具。”
“Without question, learning to swim is important for all Canadians. However, as the population continues to change…we need to make sure that we are doing our best to make our education and water safety prevention tools available to everyone.”

为此，当局已经采取积极主动的措施，帮助学龄儿童新移民熟悉水性。
For this reason, a proactive approach has been taken to get new, school-age immigrant children confident in the water.

救生协会提供的“游泳求生培训课程”的资料，被翻译成28种不同语言，其中包括中文。学校可以申请得到经费来获得该课程的培训，“游泳求生培训课程”将会在学校正常上课时间教授，同意书和课程进度报告会以不同家庭所使用的不同语言，发给学生家长。
The Lifesaving Society’s Swim to Survive program now offers swimming literature in 28 different languages, including Chinese. Schools apply for funding for the program, lessons are done during school hours, and permission sheets and progress reports are sent to parents in the language spoken at home.

根据加拿大救生协会的统计数据-加国每年有近500人溺亡。在2006年，50至64岁人群的溺亡人数增幅最大，其次是年龄在18至34岁的人群。
According to the Lifesaving Society, nearly 500 people die in water-related incidents in Canada every year. In 2006, the largest increase in drowning was among people aged 50 to 64, followed by those aged 18 to 34.

统计还显示，2006年在加国所有省份和地区中，安省的溺亡人数最多。
Also, in that same year, of all provinces and territories, Ontario accounted for the largest number of drowning deaths.

救生协会称，有61%的溺亡事件发生在“湖泊、池塘、溪流和瀑布中，”，有超过一半的溺亡事件发生在人们参与水上活动时，例如游泳或泛舟。但遇溺也是可预防的导致10岁以下儿童死亡的第二大原因。
The Lifesaving Society states that 61 per cent of drowning deaths occur in “lakes, ponds, streams and waterfalls,” and that over half occur when people are engaged in water-related activities, such as swimming or boating. Drowning is also the second leading cause of preventable death in children under the age of 10.

7月17日至24日为“全国预防遇溺周”。
July 17 to 24 is National Drowning Prevention Week.