By Rebecca Feldhaus
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-913667.mp3
Cairo, IL – The regular fishing crowd at Fort Defiance in Cairo, Illinois had extra company this past weekend. Television crews, a documentary film maker and a group of motorcyclists were among the crowd of about 60 people gathered Saturday afternoon all waiting on Mimi Hughes. The shore was mostly quiet, save a little chatter and the rumbling of barge engines.
About ten minutes later, right on schedule, a dot surrounded by four larger vessels appeared under the bridge. Hughes was less than a mile from her goal, the convergence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.
"She's in sight, she's in sight." Hughes's voyage began on May 22nd in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and after challenging 20-mile days with no current, stifling head winds and heavy debris, she is finally finished. After some jokes about Hughes's torn up shoes, she revealed her own sense of humor.
"Where'd you lose your toes?"
"Asian Carp. Really, it was pretty cool, they started nibbling on me."
This isn't Hughes's first rodeo. Starting in 1997, she swam the Bering Strait to Russia, the Danube River, Drava River, Mura River, and the Tennessee River. And what about her next swim?
"I don't really plan on doing these, because they're so difficult I wish I would quit."
Though she admits the trip was no easy task, her exhaustion was outweighed by optimism.
"How far to New Orleans?"
Hughes says because she has neither money nor political clout, these feats of athletic and mental strength are her way of speaking out. Previous swims have drawn attention to social and environmental injustice. Hughes reflects on her current goal by recalling a poem she chants while swimming.
"Today I swim, stroke by stroke, against doubt, fear, soar muscles and monotony. Breath by breath, inhaling all the can-dos of every woman who ever doubted her strength and exhaling the not-good-enough's that attempt to hold us back. Sun up to sun down, against currents, against issues that plague great women around the world."
Hughes swam the 981 miles to promote the education of women and girls across the world. As a reading and learning strategies teacher, she wants, in part, local, national and international attention for women, including those in rural villages to whom education is prohibited. She also swam for funding of women's education programs. Perhaps surprisingly though Hughes doesn't keep track of the dollars and cents. In her mind, the amount of money is not as important as the community formed from common interest.
"I don't want to say, Give me money so I can go do this,' I want to say, You be a part of what I do,' because it empowers people. And I think we all want to do things to build a better society, but usually we're just addressed by give me money so I can make change' and they want to be empowered and they want to have ownership of the change." Along with her documentary film maker, Joanna Lai, she's utilized the help of dozens. Volunteers from many communities opened their homes to Hughes and her crew. Numerous kayakers as well as Ohio River experts, ensuring her health and well-being, made up the ever-changing support team.
Though Hughes met supporters with a smiling face and buoyant spirit, she wasn't always so happy-go-lucky. Hughes says during times of low-blood sugar due to her sparse eating schedule she can swing into negative moments.
"I told them, that's why I don't let guns on the kayak."
One of those negative moments manifested itself verbally. She says she tried too hard to be in control.
"When I was yelling at the river, then I just realized that I can't control the river, but I can control my attitude toward what it dishes out. Whether it be no current or head winds or lightning storms."
A still dripping Hughes rode on top of the Cairo fire truck into town to accept the numerous awards and thank-you's. She had a well-deserved shower and toured the local library. And at the end of the day she sat down at a local barbecue restaurant next to her husband and had a hot meal with the team who helped her along the way.