Spring 2023

Hi, I’m Remi. This is the story and timeline of Tanzania Beach Lifeguards coming together. My family is from Tanzania and I’ve been many times, and each time I’ve been taken by how nice the ocean looks, and yet, I’m often the only person swimming. I came to learn that this is because many Tanzanians don’t know how to swim and so are understandably afraid of the ocean. And when people do swim, they often struggle and so there are many easily avoidable drownings each year. I know that the best way to fix this problem in the long term is to help children learn to swim when they are young, but this would take a lot of resources and time. In the meantime, even having lifeguards on the main beaches would save many lives and help people become more comfortable getting in and enjoying the ocean. This can also work towards solving the swimming problem because it gets more people in the water and improves their swimming. I decided that on my summer trip to Tanzania I would look further into this and see if there is any way to get a lifeguard program started.