Nile Swimmers

Working to stop drowning in Africa

سباحي النيل في ريو – جزء ٣ من ٣

- By

نحن فخورون جداً بثلاثة من سباحي النيل هم الآن في أولمبياد ريو ٢٠١٦ يستعدون للمنافسة في المسابقات. عبد العزيز الفاتح (عزو) وحنين سامي هما معلما سلامة مائية ومنقذين معتمدين. كلاهما سيمثل السودان في سباق الخمسين متر للسباحة الحرة. عابد حمور هو المدرب الوطني وعضو فريق إدارتنا في السودان. في هذه المدونة الثلاثية نشارككم حوارنا مع Read More

سباحي النيل في ريو – جزء ٢ من ٣

- By

نحن فخورون جداً بثلاثة من سباحي النيل هم الآن في أولمبياد ريو ٢٠١٦ يستعدون للمنافسة في المسابقات. عبد العزيز الفاتح (عزو) وحنين سامي هما معلما سلامة مائية ومنقذين معتمدين. كلاهما سيمثل السودان في سباق الخمسين متر للسباحة الحرة. عابد حمور هو المدرب الوطني وعضو فريق إدارتنا في السودان. في هذه المدونة الثلاثية نشارككم حوارنا مع Read More

Nile Swimmers in Rio – Part 2 of 3

- By

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

- By

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

سباحي النيل في ريو – جزء ١ من ٣

- By

نحن فخورون جداً بثلاثة من سباحي النيل هم الآن في أولمبياد ريو ٢٠١٦ يستعدون للمنافسة في المسابقات. عبد العزيز الفاتح (عزو) وحنين سامي هما معلما سلامة مائية ومنقذين معتمدين. كلاهما سيمثل السودان في سباق الخمسين متر للسباحة الحرة. عابد حمور هو المدرب الوطني وعضو فريق إدارتنا في السودان. في هذه المدونة الثلاثية نشارككم حوارنا مع Read More

The hidden brick makers of Botri (Part 2)

- By

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

International Water Safety Day

- By

Every year celebrations take place worldwide on selected days to draw the world’s attention to certain causes. May 15th is International Water Safety Day. This celebration aims to raise awareness about drowning prevention through various techniques that require professional trainers and practitioners. The celebration acts as a milestone to reflect on the issue of drowning, a Read More

The hidden brick makers of Botri (Part 1)

- By

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

- By

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!

- By

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

The importance of the Nile

- By

The White Nile is wide and slow here in Kosti, with shallow banks that suddenly drop off into deep water. Some sort of water lily type of flower indicates the shallower waters, and this is where the Sea Scouts come to swim, the rickshaw drivers come to clean their rickshaws, and kids come to play. Read More

The dedication of our volunteers (part 1)

- By

For over nine years we have worked in Sudan.  “Khawaijas” (the Arabic word for foreigner) always stand out, and always attract the watchful eye of the mysterious and powerful National Security.  Thankfully, up until now, we’ve never had a problem. However, foreigners working in a South Sudanese refugee camp was a step too far.  Our Read More

Rescue boat training – observations on teaching challenges

- By

There were many parallels between teaching swiftwater boat operators in the UK, and in the Sudan.  There were many differences too (not least, expressing my worries that a screwed up carrier bag wasn’t an appropriate cap for a fuel-tank). One of the things that struck me the most was a teaching challenge that I’ve certainly Read More

Nobody beats our new Master Instructors

- By

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

- By

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

Rescue Boat training with the Sudanese Civil Defence

- By

Since our very first course over 9 years ago, we have been working with the Civil Defence to improve safety around the Nile in Sudan.  The first few courses had a few people from the Civil Defence participating, but in a relatively unstructured ad-hoc way, without a clear route for cascading training or a longer-term Read More

Locally driven by a local need

- By

I’ve been in Sudan for about a week now, having meeting after meeting with various organisations that we are developing relationships with.  This is the first time, that I’ve landed in Sudan with time scheduled for meetings before the training starts, and indeed after the training finishes.  We made a decision that as the costs Read More

The Nile – a view from the air

- By

During the many trips that I have taken into Sudan, I don’t  remember spending much time looking out of the window.  On this flight, the in-flight entertainment system was not working, and so after reading, I spent a lot of time looking out of the window, and thinking about the work we have to do in Read More

Why we teach women

- By

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