Finding freedom in the water
Finding freedom in the water
When Khadra Awil talks about being in the water, she lights up.
Only 18 months ago, Khadra didn’t know how to swim. Today, she’s teaching up to 50 migrants and refugees a week how to be safe and confident in the water through Logan City Council’s Swim Logan program.
Born in Somalia and raised in Kenya, Khadra came to Australia in 2019 on an orphan visa to live with her grandmother in Kingston. Through TAFE’s Adult English Migrant Program, she was introduced to swimming via Swim Logan at Gould Adams Aquatic Centre.
Khadra was a quick learner. Instructors soon saw her potential and Sarah Scarce from The Aqua English Project recruited her as a bicultural aquatic assistant.
She’s since been training to be a fully qualified instructor. That involves swimming 25 metres in every stroke, and being able to tow another swimmer. Khadra is 36 kilograms and, as a Muslim woman, wears more fabric than most others in the water, adding to the degree of difficulty. (Khadra has specially designed swimwear – t-shirt and knee-length pants – worn over swimmers.
“Learning to swim is good for mental health, your heart, your muscles and learning English”
— Khadra Awil
For Khadra, the reasons for swimming are simple: “It makes me happy and relaxes me.”
Khadra teaches mixed classes, in multiple languages (she’s fluent in three), and firmly believes all women should know how to swim, especially newly arrived migrant mothers.
“Their children will swim in Australia – there’s so much water here and anything can happen. If they can swim, they’ll be able to save their children one day if they need to,” Khadra says.
“Plus, learning to swim is good for mental health, your heart, your muscles and learning English…and it can give you a job.”
The softly spoken 20-year-old has learned to find what Sarah calls her “lion voice” to lead her classes.
“She’s amazing to watch,” Sarah says.
Khadra has completed her Level 3 swim certificate, CPR, first aid, and Pool Bronze Medallion Course and is now completing her Swim Australia Teach Course. Out of the pool, she posts fun videos on TikTok to her 38,000 followers.
Swim Logan is a free program for newly arrived migrants and refugees over 16 years of age living in Logan. It’s funded by the Australian Government Department of Health’s Driving Social Inclusion Through Sport and Physical Activity program.
W: tinyurl.com/3p9jkmwv
