#6 Soccer And The Somali Stars

04/02/18 • 13 min

A Way Home Together: Stories of the Human Journey

What role can soccer play in bringing people together from different backgrounds and life experiences?

In this episode we hear from the teenage members of the Somali Stars-- a team of refugee kids in Utah, who are now part of the Cottonwood Football Club, playing other local teams. We also spoke to Mohammed, their 21-year-old founder and coach, tells us about his passionate commitment to the team.

Adam Miles founded the non-profit group Refugee Soccer, which provides financial support and assistance to the Somali Stars, is also a guest. Adam started Refugee Soccer after he raised money to send regulation soccer balls to poor communities in West Africa

"I started realizing instead of going eight thousand miles to Nigeria, I can go eight miles and have access to almost sixty thousand refugees in Salt Lake City, in the valley here," Adam told host Ahmed Badr.

We spoke with journalist, Franklin Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of "How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization. He explains why refugees and migrants are essential to the future of soccer in America.

What role can soccer play in bringing people together from different backgrounds and life experiences?

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#5 A Survivor from the DRC Rebuilds His Life in Texas

Espoir was an infant when his family fled for their lives. He is a survivor of the civil war in The Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC).Today, nearly two decades later, Espoir is a making a new life for himself in Austin, Texas.

We hear about his extraordinary journey and what he has learned about identity and new beginnings. Espoir is interviewed by our host Ahmed Badr, himself a refugee, who also moved with his family to the United States.

This episode also includes an update from Jean-Philippe Chauzy, Chief of Mission in the DRC for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the worsening situation.

The spread of local violence has become a great threat to the lives of many millions of people. Malnutrition and unrest, largely caused by regional conflict, especially in the eastern part of this vast country, has forced many to leave their homes. Today, there are more than 4 million internally displaced people in The Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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#7 Forced to Flee: Internally Displaced People

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are among the world's most vulnerable people. Each year, their numbers grow: Families and individuals forced to flee their homes, because of war, terrorism, government repression, natural disasters and climate change. IDP's greatly outnumber refugees. According to one official estimate, of 68.5 million people uprooted in 2017, more than 40 million were internally displaced people. While the plight of refugees is frequently the focus of media attention, IDPs are overlooked or ignored. And they are not protected by international treaties. In this episode, we speak about the urgent need for humanitarian assistance with Mohammed Abdiker, Director of Operations and Emergencies at the UN migration agency, IOM. We also look at two new campaigns to raise global awareness of IDPs. "Holding On" is a new international art and multimedia exhibit, organized by IOM. #NotATarget uses a new kind of "selfie petition" to boost understanding of displacement.