clipped from www.earthtimes.org

For millions of Muslim women like Chaterina swimming is more complicated than just jumping into the water. Though most Indonesians practice a tolerant form of the religion, which sometimes incorporates Hindu and animist beliefs, women are still obliged as Muslims to cover their bodies, leaving only their face and palms of their hands exposed.

A SAMIRA one-piece suit covers the body head to toe and has a loose shirt that comes in a variety of printed over it so it is not revealing when wet.

The bathing suit, which sells for 225,000 rupiah (25 dollars), is available online as well as in stores nationwide.

Their workshop in Bintaro, south of Jakarta, is havinga hard time acquiring enough Lycra and Spandex material to meet the demand in a country where 90 per cent of the 230 million population are followers of Islam.