Eight year old Minhaal hesitates on the edge of the jetty at Soneva Fushi. He is poised to jump into deep water for the first time, but fear almost gets the better of him. Taking a deep breath, he braces himself and takes a leap of faith. A leap into the deep blue ocean and into a world he has never seen.
Emerging from the water into the safety of instructor Nathan Tschohl’s arms, he gasps with delight. He summons the courage to float on his front and surfaces with a look of awe on his face and with two thumbs up. What did he see? “Fish!” Anything else? “Coral!” What was it like? “Great!”
Minhaal’s father is here to watch him. He videos his son as he jumps into the water again, again, again. Is he surprised to see him do this? No, he says, it is very like him.
Haish is also part of the Soneva Learn-to-Swim programme, and also a Grade 3 student at Baa Atoll Education Centre. His father is also there to watch him, but Haish does not have the bravado of Minhaal. Today is not his day for jumping, but his time will come. His father is a trained life guard and determined to teach his son to swim. Every few weeks he takes his family to a picnic island to swim but he tells me that Haish is nervous in the water.
“He has always been scared to go in the water, however much I encourage him. But now he is excited! It makes so much difference learning with his school friends.”
Minhaal’s mother Nasiya is also part of the Learn-to-Swim programme. She is making great strides in her lessons, progressing to free style in the space of a week. Clearly this is a family who will continue to swim.
But this is not just a family affair for the swimmers. Instructors Patti and Jamie Killgore from Oregon, USA, are mother and daughter. Patti has been instructing for 15 years, Jamie for 10. Inverting the usual parent/child dynamic, Jamie was Patti’s supervisor for a number of years. “She was the best supervisor I’ve ever had,” says Patti.
Being in the water all day long with mothers and their children has given Patti and Jamie a chance to reflect on their own relationship. “When people asked me before I came out what I was most looking forward to, it was having this amazing shared experience with my mum,” says Jamie.
As instructors, Patti and Jamie are keen to understand the swimming experience their students are having. The women in their classes swim in full dress and head scarf which means that they have more resistance in the water than the students they usually teach. Do they need to adapt their teaching methods accordingly?
“It’s important to know what they are experiencing so we can give them the right techniques to deal with that. All that material has to be restrictive in some way,” Patti explains.
The mothers are more than happy to oblige with a little experimentation. They arrive the next day with clothing and head scarves for Patti and Jamie to wear. After much hilarity, they enter the water in full attire. Jamie is surprised to find that wearing goggles over the head scarf breaks their seal. Her ears are blocked with water and leg movements are restricted.
“Wow! I am even more in awe of these women than I was before. They are strong!”
20 year old Isha Afeef is manager of the Soneva Fushi social and environmental responsibility fund. She is wearing many hats during the Learn-to-Swim programme. She is supporting the instructors in the water, translating backwards and forwards between Dhivehi and English – and learning to swim.
Isha Afeef is manager of the Soneva Fushi Social and Environmental Responsibility Fund and learning to swim alongside the mothers and children
“I guess because I don’t know how to swim I can understand their fear of the water so I want to push them more so that they won’t have to be where I am right now.
“When I came to this island I decided that first I would learn to ride a bike and then I would learn how to swim. I ride my bike so fast now that I am always crashing into things.
“When I go back to Male I want to get my little sisters in the water and I want to teach them to swim. They are as afraid of the sea as I am but if they could see me swimming, I am sure it could help them a lot. If I can learn to swim, then I can conquer the world!”