Guinea Bissau Swimming Federation President Siphiwe Baleka conducting a free swim clinic in the river near the village of Untche, Guinea Bissau.
On Monday, May 16th, I was sworn into office during a state ceremony held at the Guinea Bissau National Stadium "24 de Setembro" to serve as the President of the Guinea Bissau Swimming Federation (Federação de Natação da Guiné-Bissau - FNGB) for the next four years. It is now my responsibility to develop a national swimming programming in the 4th poorest country in the world starting from scratch - no swimming programs, no competitive swimmers, coaches, etc. To understand my biggest challenge, watch this video and read this report I prepared: CURRENT STATUS OF GUINEA BISSAU: A REVIEW OF RELEVANT STATISTICS.
Obviously, in order to do anything, I’m going to need resources, especially financial resources. Which is why the first thing I have done as President of the FNGB is to launch the Swimming In Guinea Bissau: Hope For The Nation GoFundMe campaign. Our Phase 1 fundraising goal for immediatate assistance is for $10,500. Our Phase 2 fundraising goal for our 2022 -2024 National Elite Team Development Project, which will ultimately send 1 boy and 1 girl to the 2024 Olympics in Paris, is $200,000 and our Phase 3 project, to build an Olympic swimming pool and training center, will be well over $1 million.
THE SWIMMING WORLD IS HELPING UKRAINIAN SWIMMERS
Recently, the Ligue Européenne de Natation (LEN) President stated, “LEN will cover the participation of Ukrainian athletes at the European Aquatics Championships and is now launching its own fund-raising project to cover the costs of their preparations.” The SwimSwam website reported that
“LEN, just like FINA and the International Olympic Committee, has contributed $ 100,000 to a new fund, which is to be shared among several aquatic organisations, national federations which are already providing invaluable help to Ukrainian athletes across Europe…. LEN has estimated that a total amount of approx. € 1,000,000 is required to cover the total cost of all internationally active athletes to be able to train and participate in this year’s major events, including the age-group (junior) European Championships….LEN has opened a dedicated bank account where anybody (whether a Federation, a company, an organisation or an individual) can make donations of any magnitude.”
“We are more than certain that many of you will join us in big numbers in this special fund-raising project, turning on a small light of hope in the lives of Ukrainian athletes” Mr Silva said. “Ukrainian athletes are LEN athletes and LEN has a moral obligation to help them in continuing with their Aquatics dreams.”
WHAT ABOUT THE AQUATIC DREAMS OF THE SWIMMERS OF GUINEA BISSAU?
To put things into perspective, consider the follwoing comparison between Guinea Bissau and Ukraine:
US AID TO GUINEA BISSAU AND UKRAINE: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT VS. WAR
Guinea Bissau: 13,948 sq mi
Ukraine: 233,031 sq mi
Guinea Bissau: 2 million people
Ukraine : 44 million people
Guinea Bissau: #175 out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index
Ukraine: #74 out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index
Guinea Bissau passport ranked 92nd out of 112
Ukrainian passport ranked 34 out of 112.
US Aid to Guinea Bissau: USAID has no office in this country, and there is no direct U.S. assistance program. However, the U. S. has a number of regional or worldwide programs, which indirectly benefit Guinea-Bissau. Latest program is the $39 million Cashew-LIFT shared with Senegal and Gambia.
US Aid to Ukraine: Since 2014, the United States has provided more than $6.4 billion in security assistance for training and equipment to help Ukraine preserve its territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO.
On March 11, Congress approved $13.6 billion in emergency spending related to Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion. The money includes weapons, military supplies and one of the largest infusions of U.S. foreign aid in the last decade. But it also covers the deployment of U.S. troops to Europe and money for domestic agencies to enforce sanctions.
Last month, President Biden requested $33 billion from Congress. On Friday, the Biden administration announced a new weapons package for Ukraine worth $150 million. The latest military aid package, the ninth security assistance installment, brings the U.S. military aid commitment to $3.8 billion since Moscow invaded its neighbor in late February.
Misson of the Fédération Internationale De Natation (FINA)
“The mission of the FINA development programme is to elevate the importance of aquatics worldwide by providing a framework for increased participation, enhanced promotion, and global competitive success in the sport. Focusing its attention on: Promotion and support, education, governance & administration and high performance & training.” - FINA.org
One of my teachers taught that a functional definition of justice is:
1. no one is mistreated;
2. those who need the most help get the most help
You can see from the graphics below, Guinea Bissau received just $120 million in global foreign aid in 2019, and little of that coming from the United States.
I have come to Guinea Bissau to use my experience and passion for swimming to help a country that needs the most help. I have come to fulfill FINA’s mission in a country whose swimmers have been ignored and whose people have been neglected. In my letters to the President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau and to the National Olympic Committee, I stated,
“Should Guinea Bissau grant my citizenship when I return May 31, and provided the COMITÉ OLÍMPICO DA GUINÉ-BISSAU successfully secure my Universality Place invitation from FINA, my plan would be the following:
Remain in Guinea Bissau after June 2 to train at the swim pool at the Ledger Hotel until departure to Tokyo.
During the training period, I would conduct free swim instructions once a day for the people of Guinea Bissau.
After the Olympics, I would return to Guinea Bissau permanently to teach at one of the Universities while developing Guinea Bissau’s national swimming program, leveraging my international contacts and sponsors.
I was given citizenship and I am keeping my end of the deal. Now I appeal to the swimming world in particular, and people of goodwill everywhere, to help me turn on a small light of hope in the lives of Guinea Bissau athletes which will also bring a light of hope to the people of Guinea Bissau.
