An Estevan woman is going to be travelling abroad this month to present at the World Conference on Drowning Prevention.
Erin Wilson, who is a water safety ambassador and volunteer with the Canadian Red Cross, as well as the City of Estevan’s program manager, will be at the conference from Oct. 8-10 in Durban, South Africa.
She will be discussing the water safety ambassador Canadian Red Cross team and how it connects Canada, and the message they have in aquatics. Wilson will be part of a panel discussion.
“We each get 15 minutes to present our topic,” said Wilson.
But the biggest part of the convention will be listening to the speakers and the different ideas that will be brought forward.
“I love being able to share the work that we do. I’m so excited the City of Estevan allows me to take some of the risks that make us industry leaders, to be able to share this message, but ultimately I want to be able to learn, I want to be able to absorb information and I want to be able to come back with new ideas and to be able to be inspired to do more things,” said Wilson.
Wilson earned the opportunity to speak after attending the drowning prevention conference in Vancouver in 2017. At the time, her interest was piqued on some of the topics that were introduced.
“The Canadian Red Cross also … suggested that it could be a good opportunity for applying to be one of the speakers for the following conference, which is the one I’m attending in Durban,” she said.
Wilson noted that her travels to South Africa are funded by the Canadian Red Cross and some fundraising that she has done, and not the City of Estevan, although she will be able to take what she has learned and bring it back to her job.
“I’m very excited to be able to take an adventure like this. It just happens to also be for a purpose I believe so strongly in.”
