The Northern and Remote Water Safety Education Program was developed to address the disproportionately high number of drownings in the Northern and remote regions of Manitoba. The Red Cross developed a strategy that would achieve long-lasting positive behavioural changes and ultimately reduce these tragedies.
The Society is committed to understanding the community before program development. This commitment to client needs led to a comprehensive multi-directional consultation process. Two fundamental elements to success are identified. First, if the Red Cross was going to make any progress in changing behaviour, community residents would have to be involved in the process.
Second, any new program development would need to be sensitive to the cultural diversity of the North.
Northern Manitoba has a population which is 46 percent Aboriginal but any given
community can range from two percent to 98 percent Aboriginal. With communities of such diverse demographics, a program must be adaptable, therefore, residents were instrumental in the development of the program.
