WOMEN SWIMMING INTO THE FUTURE
This entry has been selected as a finalist in the
Gamechangers: Change the Game for Women in Sport competition.
Using sports as a powerful medium for long-term rehabilitation and empowerment of women in situations of crisis and change.
About You
Contact Information
Title
Mrs
First name
ARCHANA
Last name
KAPOOR
Your job title
India Partner
Name of your organization
Women without Borders
Organization type
NGO
Annual budget/currency
This field has not been completed
Location
Project Street Address
145, GAUTAM NAGAR
Project City
NEW DELHI
Project Province/State
DELHI
Project Postal/Zip Code
110049
Project Country
India
Your idea
Choose your sport: (check all that apply)
Other
If you chose "other" for Sport, please define in 1-2 words below
SWIMMING
What approach does your initiative incorporate?
Capacity Building
Year the initiative began (yyyy)
2006
Paste your video code here:
If your project has a website, paste the web address here:
Plot your innovation within the discovery framework:
Barrier
Perception shapes the future
Insight
Embed sports with other activities
This field has not been completed. (333 words or less)
Name Your Project
WOMEN SWIMMING INTO THE FUTURE
Describe Your Idea
Using sports as a powerful medium for long-term rehabilitation and empowerment of women in situations of crisis and change.
Innovation
What is your signature innovation, your new idea, in one sentence?
Using sports as a powerful medium for long-term rehabilitation and empowerment of women in situations of crisis and change.
How many people does your innovation serve or plan to serve? Exactly who will benefit?
Initially, we trained over 50 young girls and 25 women from the coastal villages in District Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu that were badly impacted by the Tsunami. It benefitted the women in particular, and the entire community at large. In 10 days the women were more assured of themselves. They had learnt a new skill. Additionally, we have trained many of them as instructors. We are now keen to replicate the program and impact other regions too.
Do you have any existing partnerships? If so, please list and describe.
Women without Borders, India Chapter engaged SMART, as its implementing partner. SMART works with marginalized communities and those impacted by disaster. Our work in these villages along the coast of the Arabian Sea first stated off with involving women in economic empowerment initiatives as a means for renewal and getting their lives back on track. But the Tsunami had left deep scars, and for long-term psycho-social rehabilitation, we zeroed in on swimming as a disaster management strategy. To us, it was inconceivable that women from fishing villages were unprotected from the sea. The Sports Ministry of the Austrian Federal Chancellory provided us with swimming instructors and also funded it.The Tamil Nadu Sports Authority partnered the project by giving free access to a pool in Chennai. The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department subsidised the food and pool charges in the coastal area.
In which sector do these partners work? (Check all that apply)
Citizen sector (non profits, NGOs) .
How do you implement your innovation and apply it to the challenge/problem you are addressing?
In a patriarchal society women are generally barred from practicing any sport. Post Tsunami, where daughters and wives of fishermen died in large numbers on account of their inability to swim, our strategy was to provide these women with this obvious lifesaving skill, a FIRST for the community.
Traditionally, these communities believed that the sea would get ‘soiled’ if women swam in it. The challenges started from designing suitable swimming gear (T-shirt and track pants) for the women as they were shy to expose their bodies in traditional swimsuits to making the women comfortable with their bodies to locating local swimming pools that would allow us to hold classes for these village women. The women’s self-concept soared as they overcame hesitation, fear of water, and tsunami-related trauma, and learnt teamwork. Over time, we’ve made the transition from merely teaching them swimming as a survival tactic to making them trainers, thus adding to their employable skills.
Impact
Provide one sentence describing your impact/intended impact
A cathartic impact:female tsunami survivors have overcome the trauma and fear of water;derived belief in themselves and learnt a new skill
What does impact/success look like? Please list any tangible measures of the impact of your innovation
Impact can be listed along various socio, economic, and cultural parameters: a) More and more women now want to learn swimming as a survival skill; b) many want to become trainers to pass on life-saving skills to others; c) women have succeeded in breaking barriers in an area dominated by men; d) the women battled superstition that the sea would be ‘polluted’ if women entered it; e) women gained confidence in themselves and their bodies when they shed their traditional saris and wore swimming gear, even though the specially-designed swimsuits were track bottoms and t-shirts.
Is there a chance that your project could change policy (within an institution or government)?
Our intervention has already been successful in opening up swimming pools reserved for the elite to those living in fishing villages. The increased demand forced the government to not only allow the use of their pools, but to also provide free classes to the village women and children.
Aside from financial sustainability, how do you plan to grow the initiative or expand your intended impact?
Women in the coastal areas should learn how to swim for their own survival. We have a network of NGOs who can implement our vision. We would like to use sports as tools for empowerment. WwB taught the women of Zanzibar to swim, the girls and boys of Rwanda to play football and the girls of Iraq and Afghanistan to play basketball. We want to reach out to all the girls and women to engage in atleast one sport.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Sustainability
How is your initiative financed (or how do you expect your initiative will be financed)?
The project was financed by the Ministry of Sports, Government of Austria. We got support from the local government in terms of free access to the pool and free coaching but not as a state-wide program. We were hoping that any one of the sports companies would take the project forward. We also wanted the Government of India to use this pilot as a success story and incorporate sports for women in their empowerment programs.
Financing source
Annual budget
40,000 euros (including cost of trainers from Austria, boarding, lodging, local travel, swimming costumes, snacks, manuals, payment for pool)
Annual revenue generated
NONE
Number of staff (full-time, part-time, volunteers)
4 trainers from Austria
2 Representatives from Women without Borders, Austria
4 Representatives from SMART, India
2 Local mobilisers
4 volunteers
What are the main barriers to financing your initiative, and how do you plan to address these barriers?
1. Attitudinal Change: Through sharing of success stories and examples
2. Availability of pools: By getting government to sponsor pools
3. Fundraising: By getting companies like Nike to sponsor
What are the major challenges with regards to partnerships?
Convincing people that sports is an important tool for team building, confidence building and change. Basically ATTITUDE IS A PROBLEM
The Story
What stage is your project?
Completed project.
What was the motivation or defining moment that led to create this innovation? Tell us the story.
A March 2005 study by Oxfam proved that the Tsunami took the lives of four times as many women as men, basically because the former did not know how to swim to save their lives. The idea was to do a pilot project and then take it up on a large scale.
Please tell us about the social innovator behind this initiative
Dr Edit Schlaffer, founder and Chair of Women without Borders, Vienna. A sociologist and an innovator of several programs that have used sports to build confidence of target groups. Dr Schlaffer has used Football as a tool in Rwanda; Basketball in Iraq, and Afghanistan; Swimming in India and Zanzibar to build team spirit, overcome inhibitions and to raise self esteem.
Check www.women-without-borders.org.
(Optional) To be eligible for an additional prize, please select age range
27 or older
 | 214 weeks ago Cynthia Drayton said: Hi Archana, Congratulations on being selected a Gamechangers Finalist! Your work empowering women through swimming after the tsunami ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 220 weeks ago Katy Taylor said: Wow, what an amazing project! As a swimmer, swim teacher and lifeguard I am in awe of what you have achived so far and wish you all the ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 224 weeks ago Rahul (Robin) Brahmbhatt said: Archana, What a great program! The ability to swim is a very empowering one, especially in some areas of India. You have great ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago sandeep kumar said: The video was really informative and inspiring. An interesting platform for women to come out of the shell and mark their presence. about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Kathy Webb said: WWB - Thank you for your compelling application! Who would have thought that people who are raised near the water have no swimming ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Renata Affonso said: Archana, Your project is inspiring! It is great that you are focused on swimming and to open the pools to anyone not just the ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Stephani Kobayashi Stevenson said: Hi WWB, Welcome to the online community! Thank you for entering this competition. You've named several interesting opportunities ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago ARCHANA KAPOOR said: Dear kalpana, I am really glad that you appreciate the project. Your email id reflects the name of a renowned ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago ARCHANA KAPOOR said: Thanks Lombe. Trust is a very important factor in any such venture. We had won the confidence of our target group. The mothers and ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
| 227 weeks ago Lombe Mwambwa said: Bravo! Great project you have. I agree with you that the key issues in participation is access to facilities for sport. Its a key ... about this Competition Entry. - read more > |
