In April of 2013 California native Seamus Pettigrew was volunteering as an English teacher in a small village in East Bali. An avid surfer, he would frequently visit the beach with his students so he was shocked to learn that the majority of them had never learned to swim.
Upon returning home to the US, he was motivated to take action that would help the children of Indonesia learn to swim. After discussing this idea with friends Neal From and Andrew Latimer, the team set out to found Swimdo, an international non-profit organization that would serve the children of Indonesia.
Its mission: to protect and enrich the lives of children through aquatic education.
With initial financial support from US-based partner The Children’s Trust, Swimdo has taught thousands of children survival swimming and water safety over the last 8 years. The organization employs a full team of local staff and is partnered with drowning prevention organizations around the world to help end childhood drowning.
Local industry centered around serving the community has been a priority for our team from day one. Swimdo aims to be an organization for the people, by the people. In this spirit, we employ local instructors, supervisors and coordinators that run our day-to-day on site operations in Indonesia. Meet the Swimdo team.
Community involvement, trust, and support is essential for all of our schools to operate. For this reason, it is paramount to involve the elders and local government officials in any given area. In this way we ensure that our programs are well received by the community as a whole.
Want to get involved? We’d love to meet you!
Swimdo continues to grow as more and more people learn about us and offer their support. We are always on the lookout for new communities and pools to teach out of with the goal of expanding our programs and facilities throughout Indonesia.