Muslim Women Enjoy Rare Swim Time at Local YWCA

April 4, 2005

Source: The Daily Nebraskan

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/04/4250ea7b8ba88

On April 4, 2005 The Daily Nebraskan reported, "when Zainab Al-Baaj first organized swimming sessions last September with the assistance of the YWCA staff and the funding of a community endowment, she had never gone swimming before... Now, eight months later, the program still is one of the only of its kind in the country, although Al-Baaj said she has talked with women in Tennessee and Michigan who are interested in starting up their own lessons. The scarcity of pools friendly to Muslim women is the main reason Ohood Hakim attends the swim sessions. Hakim, a nutrition and health sciences graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said she hadn’t been swimming since she moved from Saudi Arabia, where there are many private swim clubs, seven years ago. Since the UNL Campus Recreation Center doesn’t offer accommodations for Muslim women, Hakim said she has to search for places to exercise on her own."

See also: Islam, Youth