LAGOS, Nigeria — About 20 children in shorts and vests gather at a swimming pool on a sweltering afternoon in Nigeria's economic hub of Lagos. A coach holds the hand of a boy who is blind as he demonstrates swimming motions and guides him through the pool while others take note.
It was one of the sessions with students of the Pacelli School for the Blind and Partially Sighted, where Emeka Chuks Nnadi, the swimming coach, uses his Swim in 1 Day, or SID, nonprofit to teach swimming to disabled children.
In a country where hundreds drown every year, often because of boat mishaps but sometimes as a result of domestic accidents, the initiative has so far taught at least 400 disabled people how to swim. It has also aided their personal development.
''It (has) helped me a lot, especially in class,'' said 14-year-old Fikayo Adodo, one of Nnadi's trainees who is blind. ''I am very confident now to speak with a crowd, with people. My brain is sharper, like very great."
The World Health Organization considers drowning as one of the leading causes of death through unintentional injury globally, with at least 300,000 people dying from drowning every year. The most at risk are young children.
Many of the deaths occur in African countries like Nigeria, with limited resources and training to avert such deaths.
In Nigeria — a country of more than 200 million people, 35 million of whom the government says are disabled — the challenge is far worse for disabled people who have less access to limited opportunities and resources in addition to societal stigma.
While the initiative is raising awareness among the children about drowning, it benefits wider society in different ways, Nnadi said, especially ''if you want to have disabled people that are contributing to the economy and not just dependent on us as a society to take care of them.''
