Nile Swimmers

Dan Graham and Tom Mecrow, Royal Life Saving Society – United Kingdom instructors, report about their lifesaving training in Sudan:


Dan Graham and Tom Mecrow, Royal Life Saving Society – United Kingdom instructors, report about their lifesaving training in Sudan:

[quote=Dan Graham and Tom Mecrow]”What would possess two men to travel to an African country in the middle of a civil war to deliver lifesaving and river-rescue training, with only two weeks notice, at a time when we should be revising for our final year exams at University? To this day, we still have no idea; but we’d fly back out tomorrow and do it all again if we were asked to!”[/quote]

The British Council provided the funds to send the UK based personnel to provide the training in Sudan.

Sudan is the tenth largest country in the world, the largest country in Africa and said to be the birthplace of all human civilisations.

The Nile is the longest river in the world, the source of life in Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Egypt and the source of food, a place to work, a place to relax, a method of transport.

The Nile is a hugely important aspect in many Sudanese peoples’ daily lives, but also kills huge numbers of young men and women. Not the crocodiles, hippopotami, bilharzias (Schistosomiasis), electric catfish, or any of the other weird and wonderful creatures that can kill humans in a variety of interesting ways; but simply the power of the water, the shifting sands, and the dangerous currents.

The project

The idea was to take potential community leaders, young men from twenty to twenty-five years of age, from the length and breadth of Sudan and bring them to the capital city Khartoum for a two-week training camp in swimming, lifesaving, and river rescue techniques; with a view that they would go back to their villages and train others, and also acting as village “lifeguards”.

The project was ambitious, no question of that, but the vision and drive of the British Council in Sudan saw it through to a very successful completion.

Variety

With a group of 19; we had a variety of religions and customs to take account of; 18 different mother tongues; 4 (from the South) had some English, the remaining 15 had varying degrees of Arabic. Luckily, Osman.

One of the Khartoum Sea Scouts (who were providing the camp with logistic support) had spent over a decade in the UK and so spoke a very good level of both English and Arabic. He was a very efficient translator on the days that he was there.

Oven climate

The camp was set up on an island, approximately 45 minutes south of Khartoum in the Blue Nile.

Our first visit to the island was like stepping into an oven. The sun, directly overhead, was baking us at nearly 40C, and the white sand reflecting it back with even more vigour. Rather surprisingly, we got used to it very quickly, and because of the aridity of the air, we did not get the slightest bit sweaty or sticky. Drying-off was simply a matter of wandering around for a couple of minutes.

Considering that Sudan is approximately the same size as Western Europe… for many of these young men, the change in climate was as severe for them as it was for us. For many, it was the first time that they had left their tribal homelands.

Much needed training

One of our strongest memories was the first day, and a simple ice-breaking exercise; getting everybody together and having a chat (through Osman the translator) about what the Nile is like where they live; what they use the river for; what they considered to be the dangers in their part of the Nile, and so on. Almost of all of them thought the most dangerous things were the creatures mentioned above.

Fate was tempted, when we asked if any of them had ever been involved in a rescue on the Nile; five hands were raised, and five very dramatic stories of (successful) rescues followed, incidents either stemming from over-confident recreational swimmers, or overloaded boats. Tempting fate again, we asked if anybody knew of any deaths in the Nile; another set of five hands were raised, and between them they knew over a dozen people (either friends or family) who had drowned in the Nile.

It was just about then, that the enormity of our task hit us. Between the two of us, we have thousands of hours of teaching experience in water rescue and associated disciplines, in a variety of countries ” and never, had either of us, heard of over quarter of the group (none of whom had received any previous training) perform rescues, or have friends and family who had been victims to the river.

Whilst we know the skills we teach in the UK are being taught to save a life, it is rare that those skills are ever put into use. Most of the members of our lifesaving groups in the UK do it for enjoyment; most of the members of our lifeguard courses are there to get a job. In both these cases, we hope that they never have to use the skills they learn.

The people on this course, however, were there because their village needed someone to save people from drowning in the river. They were there, knowing for a fact that they would use these skills to save a life; probably in the coming flood season.

Continued support

This was a project that truly made us feel as though we had touched the lives of people during the two weeks of training. The skills and knowledge that they now possess will make a difference, to them, their families, and their friends. Already we have heard back from one of the participants who have started passing on what he learnt to other swimmers in his village.

One of the important elements of the project for the British Council was the sustainability. The project was a pilot, not a one off.

We have all learnt from this experience, and are already putting plans in place to run a similar camp next year. There are also plans to run a women-only camp.