Dutch Ambassador crosses Nile to promote swimming

Raising awareness against drowning in Sudan, Dutch Ambassador Susan Blankhart and a group of women swam the Nile on Saturday. They reached the other side cheered on by dozens of supporters of the event, known on Twitter as #CrossingTheNile.

Seven Dutch and seven Sudanese women accompanied the Ambassador during the swim of several hundred metres, in bright orange swimsuits bearing the Embassy's logo.

“I do this for three reasons,” the Ambassador said in a press release. “First, it started as a Facebook challenge – when the Embassy’s page would hit 10,000 likes, I promised I would cross the Nile.

“More importantly, we will raise awareness against drowning for which we have joined hands with the Nile Swimmers, the Khartoum Sea Scouts and the Dutch Don’t Drown Foundation.

“Lastly, I will swim with a team of women only. In Sudan, but also in Holland, it’s important to further improve the position of women. In addition sport is also an avenue to promote women empowerment.”

“It was lovely, it was beautiful. I would recommend that everyone swims across the Nile.”

Worldwide, and especially in Africa, drowning is a big problem, Blankhart stressed. A lot can be done in terms of prevention. According to estimates from the World Health Organization, yearly 372,000 people drown worldwide. This happens more often in low- and middle-income countries. It is one of the leading causes of unintentional injury death. Young people (babies, toddlers, kids) are at much higher risk of drowning.

Dutch Ambassador Susan Blankhart

Adequate supervision of young people, babies and toddlers is key, the Embassy writes in the press release. But above all, community education is needed – teaching people how to swim and how to behave responsibly around rivers, pools and lakes.

“It was lovely, it was beautiful,” the 63-year-old Blankhart said after her stunt. “I would recommend that everyone swims across the Nile.”

Ambassador @Karin_Boven just entered the Blue Nile #raising awareness Together against drowning #CrossingTheNile pic.twitter.com/gD5EZln3H9

— NLinSudan (@NLinSudan) November 26, 2016

Watch a video of swimmers crossing the Nile. The photos in this report are from Twitter.