Dubai Women's College teachers swim for humanity

Held for the first time in a few years, the swim was organized to raise funds in support of MSF's humanitarian work all over the world.

Jean Linehan, Andrew O'Sullivan, and Margo Tummel from DWC swam in the Sirius Burj al Arab Swim for MSF along with more than 600 other swimmers.

Each swimmer raised sponsorship for MSF to assist in its humanitarian efforts and programs benefiting needy people in war-torn countries and economically disadvantaged areas. The Swim, sponsored by Speedo, Evian, Sirius and Wild Wadi, was the largest swim around the Burj. Swimmers participated in a competitive Heat and three other non-competitive ones all starting from the left hand-side of the Burj and finishing on the right side.

"It was fabulous weather and an awesome experience. There were three waves of swimmers all distinguished by the color of the caps. Ours was the yellow group and it looked like a huge wave of yellow splashing when we all started. I participated because I think MSF is a great organization which provides health care in areas where there is little to no health care available. There are so many problems in the world today, and I want to do my part to raise money for and awareness of groups that work to alleviate some of these world problems,"

said Jean Linehan, DWC faculty.

For Andrew, this was not the first time he participated in this fundraising activity. "I have participated in this event every year since its inception in 2000. It is a healthy fun event for a great cause. It encourages family participation - my daughter swam it with me when she was 6 years-old," noted Andrew. He also explained that several DWC members had participated in the event over the years and were able to raise more than 25,000Dhs for MSF. The late Jackie Maguire from DWC swam the event regularly.

The Swim was organized by Sirius and supported by the Red Crescent, United Arab Emirates. "I felt this was a great chance for me to participate in a charity event. I love swimming and this was a great opportunity for me to combine something I love to do with raising money for a good cause," said Margo Tummel.

MSF is an international independent humanitarian medical organization that has been providing medical care services in more than 60 countries worldwide since 1971. MSF, with offices in 19 countries, is well-recognized in less advantaged communities for rehabilitating hospitals and clinics, running nutrition and sanitation program, training national medical personnel, and providing mental health care.

About 3000 volunteer doctors, nurses and support staff travel to crisis areas every year to help in providing much needed medical services in cooperation with thousands of locally recruited staff in the world. MSF hopes to spread more awareness in the UAE and the Middle East on the significance of the services it provides to needy communities worldwide. Such events are also considered an excellent tool for engaging the local communities and promoting humanitarian principles. MSF was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize back in 1999 in recognition of its humanitarian contribution to the world.