Worried about river accidents, Mosul resident offers swimming lessons in makeshift pool
Record ID:
1633900
Worried about river accidents, Mosul resident offers swimming lessons in makeshift pool
- Title: Worried about river accidents, Mosul resident offers swimming lessons in makeshift pool
- Date: 26th August 2021
- Summary: MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF AERIALS OVER THE RIVER BANK WHERE CHILDREN ARE SWIMMING MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) BOY JUMPING INTO RIVER BOYS SWIMMING IN RIVER MUAFAQ WATCHING CHILDREN SWIM IN RIVER AND POINTING AT THEM WHILE SAYING (Arabic): "Look at the swimmer, how he is diving. He is not capable of floating. This is dangerous. He does not have a method. He does not have the experience to get himself out. If he starts drowning he will not know how to save himself." VARIOUS OF BOYS SWIMMING AND STANDING ON RIVER BANK MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) AERIAL OVER TIGRIS WITH BOYS SWIMMING IN RIVER MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) MUAFAQ WALKING TOWARDS POOL MUAFAQ POURING CHEMICALS INTO BUCKET MUAFAQ WALKING AROUND POOL AND POURING CHEMICALS INTO THE WATER TO CLEAN IT MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSUL RESIDENT TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO SWIM FOR FREE, MAHMOOD MUAFAQ, SAYING: "After the destruction and devastation that happened during the war, there was an abandoned tank. I came, repaired and restored it. I put a layer of ceramic inside the pool, I transformed it and turned it into a swimming pool." MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) RUBBLE / KIDS QUEUING TO ENTER POOL DAMAGED CAR WITH POOL IN BACKGROUND MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSUL RESIDENT TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO SWIM FOR FREE, MAHMOOD MUAFAQ, SAYING: "I am an ironsmith. So I go to work on the days when I have work, come back in the late afternoon and open the pool." MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) MUAFAQ STANDING WITH CHILDREN NEAR MAKESHIFT CHANGING ROOM BOYS GETTING CHANGED BOYS RUNNING TOWARDS SWIMMING POOL BOYS ENTERING POOL MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSUL RESIDENT TEACHING CHILDREN HOW TO SWIM FOR FREE, MAHMOOD MUAFAQ, SAYING: "There are no swimming pools in the Old City. Now they have a place to breathe. When the temperatures are high, they come here from all neighborhoods." MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MUAFAQ IN POOL WITH BOYS DURING SWIMMING LESSON MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 24, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BOY FROM MOSUL WHO LEARNED HOW TO SWIM WITH MAHMOOD MUAFAQ, ABDELRAHMAN AHMED, SAYING: "My friend drowned, I saw him with my own eyes. Now, my family does not want me to swim in the river anymore, this is why we come to uncle Mahmood to swim here. We learnt how to swim, swimming is good for us, we learnt how to dive. Now, if we are somewhere and an accident happens, we now know how to swim. Captain Mahmood taught us everything." MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (MUTE) VARIOUS OF AERIALS OF POOL AMID PARTLY DAMAGED OLD CITY
- Embargoed: 9th September 2021 15:55
- Keywords: Drowning Iraq Mosul Old City Rubble Swimming lessons
- Location: MOSUL, IRAQ
- City: MOSUL, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Living/Lifestyle,Middle East,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA005ERX36FP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Standing in the middle of a makeshift pool, Mosul resident Mahmood Muafaq tirelessly repeats swimming instructions to a group of young boys that throw themselves in the water at the rhythm of his whistle.
Trying to raise his voice above the din of the boys' excited shouts and the sound of splashing water, Muafaq teaches them how to crawl, dive and to respect safety measures when in the water.
Swimming has always been a hobby for Muafaq, the son of a professional swimmer. But the pool is more than a pastime, it is a self-declared mission for the man who in March 2019 tried to rescue some of the 90+ people who drowned after a ferry capsized in the nearby Tigris river.
"I was shocked by what I saw, it was terrifying," Muafaq said, remembering the sheer amount of corpses, many of them women and children who did not know how to swim.
In Mosul's Old City, still partly in ruins after the devastating war against the Islamic State in 2017, there are no swimming pools for children who in summer turn to the Tigris river to have some fun and cool down, Muafaq told Reuters.
As children do not get swimming lessons at school, the river is a dangerous place for them, Muafaq said, adding that several children drown each year in the sometimes unpredictable river.
To try and reduce the number of deadly accidents, Muafaq decided to build his own pool, renovating and transforming an abandoned tank in the Old City. Although it is surrounded by some debris and damaged buildings, the pool itself is taken care of by Muafaq who cleans it regularly and adds chlorine to the water.
Since he built the pool, parents weary of letting their boys swim in the river have, with relief, let them join Muafaq's swimming classes.
"We learnt how to swim, swimming is good for us, we learnt how to dive. Now, if we are somewhere and an accident happens, we know how to swim. Captain Mahmood taught us everything," Abdelrahman Ahmed, one of Muafaq's students, proudly said after a swimming lesson.
(Production: Kawa Omar, Charlotte Bruneau) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None