Bangladesh

In 2009, Justin made a trip Bangladesh where he observed and assisted in community drowning prevention campaigns in rural areas with the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB) and met with local lifeguards to help curb the exorbitant number of drownings that take place there. To give the problem some scope, Bangladesh is smaller than Iowa and has a population equal to 1/2 the USA (150 million) and during the rainy season nearly a quarter of the countries landmass becomes submerged. In Bangladesh, drowning is the leading cause of death in children under age 18, even surpassing infectious cause, a rate more than 20 times greater than the rate in the US.