Sponsored piece written by Jodi Schwan
The scene that unfolded on a series of Sunday afternoons late this summer inside EmBe was nothing short of life-changing.
From infants to their parents, and children of all ages, many stepped into a swimming pool for the first time in their lives.
“A lot of Americans give children swimming lessons almost from the moment they’re born – but unfortunately in the African community, we might have five or six children in one household, so who are you going to give lessons to on a limited income,” said Gisma Ali, who recently became president of the Sudanese Community of South Dakota and who serves as founder of The Culture Link, which focuses on mental health needs of the African community.
“I saw there was such a need for that, and it’s a life skill, honestly. Everyone should know how to swim.”
Tragically, the African community has experienced what can happen without that life skill. It’s what drove Ali to bring partners together who could make a difference.
“A boy went to Okoboji and drowned, and unfortunately there are many stories we’ve heard in our community,” she said. “A lot of the children see American children doing activities, and they want to partake without realizing it’s not as easy as it looks.”
Ali reached out to Patrick Gale at the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation, who picked up the idea from there.
“She said many African refugees didn’t know how to swim, so when kids went to the pool or to the lake, a lot of the children would either not get in the water with their friends or struggle to try to keep up. Sometimes, adults have drowned trying to save kids. This was heartbreaking,” said Gale, vice president of community investment.
Knowing that EmBe had an indoor pool, he set up a meeting with EmBe and Ali to see if there might be an opportunity to provide swimming lessons.
“EmBe was very eager about the opportunity to help, Gisma came through with the participants and coordinated the logistics, and the Community Foundation was happy to underwrite the lessons,” Gale said.
From there, a groundswell of support grew.
A one-day signup last spring was so popular that the organizers decided to do a second session in October.
Realizing that many of the participants wouldn’t have swimsuits, EmBe women’s program manager Courtney Hardie and her mother bought more than 30 swimsuits for adults and kids.
“I didn’t want swimsuits to be another barrier to participants getting the swimming education they needed,” she said.
“I value the importance of fostering inclusive communities and appreciated the opportunity to show my support of this partnership.”
Then it was time to get in the pool, which itself carries cultural barriers, Ali explained.
“We have a very unhealthy relationship that goes way back when it comes to water,” she said, explaining that generations ago slaves were taken by boat from their homes, “and a lot of them didn’t know how to swim and thought they would be able to escape. So that fear is instilled in our people. The water is where our ancestors are; that’s where they were killed.”
When the lessons began, “I could see the fear,” she continued. “The children were fine and the women – I was floored. I was so proud of them. They were like: ‘I am going to do this. I am going to do this for myself and my children.’”
That included her.
“I actually did learn, finally,” she said. “And in the fall, I’m going to take my three little girls.”
At EmBe, “we’ve never done anything like this,” aquatics program manager Jaeya Jones said.
To be culturally sensitive to Muslim participants and separate male from female swimmers, EmBe hosted The Culture Link swim lessons on a Sunday, when the facility usually is closed, and scheduled them all day for four weeks in a row.
“Our first priority was making sure they were comfortable before we started introducing swimming skills,” Jones said. “So we spent more time acclimating them, and it was exciting to watch them get ready to go in the water, and then once they were comfortable, we worked on blowing bubbles and doing kicks and learning arm techniques and strokes.”
More than 100 people took lessons – mostly children – with more signed up for October.
“In the beginning, I could see the hesitation from all ages, but by the end, they were excited to come. They were coming in with a smile, and I could tell they were happy we had this for them,” Jones said. “And the instructors really enjoyed it too. It was great to see this come alive and see how everyone involved took something away from it. Overall, it was a major success.”
It’s also a direct reflection of EmBe’s very name, which represents empowerment, and its mission to uplift families through opportunities.
“I love EmBe. They’re so accommodating. They went above and beyond to make sure everything went smooth, and the instructors were awesome and culturally sensitive and made everyone feel so comfortable,” Ali said.
“I’m so grateful for all the support. This is what I live for. This is my purpose in life.”
There was such a large turnout that “now everybody wants to swim,” she added. “I’m like, I don’t have enough funding for everyone. We’ll see next year. We didn’t even touch a fraction of the community, and the fact that everyone is looking forward to it and seeing the confidence as they got better each week is so good for us and good for our families and gives me so much joy.”
To learn more about Culture Link, see their website here. For more information and to sign up for EmBe’s indoor swim lessons, go to our Aquatics page.