At Nile Swimmers, we know that access to water is a key issue in drowning risk, as is living in a flood-prone area. In late 2017, we worked with UNICEF to carry out community risk mapping in flood-prone communities in White Nile State and West Kordofan.
International Womens Day #IWD2018
International Women’s Day is the perfect opportunity to recognise the incredible women that are moving Nile Swimmers forward in Sudan. Women first become involved in Nile Swimmers’ drowning prevention programmes in March 2015. Since then, more and more women have become involved in the organisation.
Drowning Prevention: Better Together
Nile Swimmers is saddened by the recent attacks on Felix Foundation and the Ghana National Aquatic Rescue Unit (GNARU) by the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) and Ghana Lifesaving & Diving Association (GHALDA). These were documented in the New African (pages 60-61) this month.
Introducing our new Country Director, Hind Elseed
Nile Swimmers are pleased to announce that with the ongoing growth of our organisation and programmes in Sudan, we have recently appointed a Country Director. We let Hind Elseed explain what she brings to the team and the challenges she is looking forward to taking on with us: I am a certified project manager and Read More
What women wear…
Despite a ruling by France’s highest administrative court last week that mayors do not have the right to ban burkinis on their town’s beaches, several mayors are enforcing the ban. Human rights organisations have pledged to take any mayor that attempts to keep the ban in place to court. In a world where over 372,000 Read More
Nile Swimmers in Rio – Part 3 of 3
We are hugely proud that three Nile Swimmers are now at Rio 2016 preparing for their events. Abdelaziz Alfatih (Azo) and Haneen Sami are both Aquatic Survival Instructors and qualified Lifeguards. They will both be representing Sudan in the 50m freestyle. Aabid Hammour is the national coach and a member of our Management Team. In Read More
Nile Swimmers in Rio – Part 2 of 3
We are hugely proud that three Nile Swimmers are now at Rio 2016 preparing for their events. Abdelaziz Alfatih (Azo) and Haneen Sami are both Aquatic Survival Instructors and qualified Lifeguards. They will both be representing Sudan in the 50m freestyle. Aabid Hammour is the national coach and a member of our Management Team. In Read More
Nile Swimmers in Rio – Part 1 of 3
We are hugely proud that three Nile Swimmers are now at Rio 2016 preparing for their events. Abdelaziz Alfatih (Azo) and Haneen Sami are both Aquatic Survival Instructors and qualified Lifeguards. They will both be representing Sudan in the 50m freestyle. Aabid Hammour is the national coach and a member of our Management Team. In Read More
The hidden brick makers of Botri (Part 2)
Having discovered that the brick-making community at Botri were not considered by the local residents when they talked about drowning and that they were potentially at much higher risk of drowning because of their increased exposure to water, we decided to see if we could find out more. We went to see the brick-making process Read More
The hidden brick makers of Botri (Part 1)
Whilst working with the people of Botri to create a community risk map related to drowning, we sat down to speak with one of the village leaders. He explained to us what happens when people drown in the Nile at Botri; who the death is reported to (nobody unless the Civil Defence has to be Read More
Ahmed and Yasmin’s story
Whilst training lifeguards in Botri, I was introduced to Ahmed, whose younger brother, Mohammed, had drowned in the Nile in 2014. He took me to meet his sister, Yasmin, and together they told me their story. “Mohammed was 18 at the time. He would go swimming every day with his friends though he would always Read More
Meet Ali!
This month, Nile Swimmers took on our first full-time member of staff in Sudan. Due to the dedication and hard work of the Sudanese Management Team, numerous projects were reaching a scale where it simply wasn’t possible for a volunteer team to keep up to date with everything any more. This called for a full-time Read More
Nobody beats our new Master Instructors
Everything that we do in Nile Swimmers is based around a strong core of Sudanese volunteers. Without the support of these volunteers, none of our projects would be able to run at the scale that they do. Today was one of the brilliant days when we get to meet up with some of those volunteers Read More
Changing attitudes – The new lifeguards of Botri
Botri is a village of about 5000 people, 20 km outside of Khartoum in Al-Jazeera state. In December last year, the Botri Charity Association (BCA) approached Nile Swimmers asking for help to combat the community’s self-identified drowning problem. In late December, Aquatic Survival Programme instructors went to the local primary and secondary schools to teach Read More
Why we teach women
Shortly before I last left Sudan I was asked: “Why do you teach women at these courses? There are so many women in Sudan and they are such a big problem. They all want to go on training courses and then when they have finished, they go and get married and have children. They will Read More
Sustainable Development Goals and Drowning Prevention
On 25th September 2015, with the eyes of the world on them, 193 world leaders met in New York to commit to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. These aim to achieve 3 things by 2030: End extreme poverty Fight inequality and injustice Fix climate change On 26th September 2015, with significantly less international media Read More
Not a high priority: Safety in Sudanese swimming pools
Whilst I was last in Sudan, I saw a number of swimming pools, of varying quality. At one end of the spectrum was the Family Pool, a 25m pool in a tin shack in the middle of a building site. It was half full of water leaving it with a freeboard higher than the water Read More
Behind closed doors
Most women in Sudan will cover their arms, legs and head when they are outside or in public. There are a range of outfits that women use to achieve this, from the most conservative women who wear a tight head scarf, gloves and an abaya, to those who wear skinny jeans, a flowing long-sleeved top Read More
World Conference on Drowning Prevention – Becky’s view
The Women of Drowning Prevention Before WCDP 2015, I had seen a photo taken at the World Conference in Potsdam two years earlier. It was a picture of a group of men. “Where are all the women?“, I asked, only to be told that there were regrettable few women involved in the world of drowning Read More
#CrossingTheNile – Rana’s experience
When I was told that there would be lifeguard training for women in Sudan run by Nile Swimmers, I got really excited because Sudan has never had trained women lifeguards. I was going to join the first course and that made me feel proud. The course began on 5th October 2015 and it continued for Read More