How swimming lessons helped these migrant and refugee women build confidence in the water

SBS Australia

3 days ago

This story was produced in collaboration with SBS Dari For these Indian and Palestinian women, feeling comfortable in the water is an important goal ahead of Summer. "If you want to go swimming somewhere, and something happens in the water, you can save your life." "In the beginning I felt very scared but now I love the water." Learning to swim is an essential skill. According to the Royal Life Saving Society Australia, 104 drowning deaths were reported last summer, a 5 per-cent increase compared to the previous year and 14 per cent above the five-year average. About 25 per cent were people born overseas. Ying Fan is the the cultural engagement coordinator from Royal Life Saving New South Wales. "From our research, we have four countries with the highest drowning death rate in Australia, the top four are India, China, Nepal and UK. So we are targeting those community groups." Community groups helping participants to overcome cultural barriers, too. Uniting Circle in Sydney's West recently offering a 10 week program for new arrivals and refugee women from Afghanistan, in collaboration with the Royal Life Saving Society. This is Uniting Circle CEO Mujgan Tahery. "Language was the biggest barrier that we had - I was literally running from one spot to another translating for them - toward the end, language wasn't a barrier at all, because they could understand by body language." Approximately one third of last Summer's drowning deaths occurred at beaches, another 30 per cent in rivers. 11 people drowned in swimming pools, that number doubling in comparison to the summer before. Mujgan Tahery says demand is growing from the community's men as well - especially in light of last Summer's drowning death toll. "If we are going to be in the reality of the beach, what we have to do, what is the safety we have to do, how we can protect our children and how we can protect our family as well." For swim teachers like Jamie Estephan, seeing skills improve is rewarding. "It does make me quite emotional to see the growth because I think in Australia it could not be more important than gaining that confidence ..Our relationship and our culture with water is huge. So seeing them go from, I can't even put my face into the water, to (now) I can go to my friend's barbecue and hop in their pool and swim confidently and swim safely. But also too, they're actually setting a standard for their children. Mummy can do it. You can do it too."
A splash in the right direction - in time for summer.