Luma Mufleh: Don't feel sorry for refugees -- believe in them
Luma Mufleh: Não sinta pena dos refugiados - apoie-os
Luma Mufleh does something revolutionary: she coaches soccer. A Jordanian immigrant and Muslim of Syrian descent, Mufleh is determined to empower refugee children everywhere. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
que iria falar em uma conferência TED.
to one of my classrooms
para contar aos meus alunos.
que você fez a gente assistir?
you made us watch on grit?
coisas incríveis com robôs?",
this really awesome thing with robots?"
are really important and smart."
importantes e inteligentes."
You hate public speaking."
Você odeia falar em público."
that I speak about your journeys,
contar sobre as suas histórias,
school that I founded
refugiados que eu fundei
words of encouragement.
palavras de incentivo.
who have been forcibly displaced
que foram expulsas à força
of war or persecution.
à guerra ou perseguição.
11 million, are from Syria.
e duas pessoas deixam suas casas por dia.
as humane under anyone's definition.
como humanas sob nenhum aspecto.
in the degradation of humans.
da degradação de humanos.
of refugees since World War II.
desde a Segunda Guerra Mundial.
is so important to me.
é tão importante para mim.
of my life working with refugees.
da minha vida trabalhando com refugiados.
during the first Assad regime.
durante o primeiro governo de Assad.
when she packed up a suitcase,
quando fez uma mala,
and drove to neighboring Jordan,
e dirigiu até a vizinha Jordânia,
for her and her family.
para ela e para sua família.
not believing it was that bad.
não achou que seria tão ruim.
after his brothers were tortured
depois que os irmãos foram torturados
by the government.
starting from scratch
wealthy Jordanian citizens.
prósperos cidadãos jordanianos.
for us to know our history
que conhecêssemos nossa história
to visit my first refugee camp.
para ver meu primeiro campo de refugiados.
it was so important to her
para ela que nós fôssemos.
holding her hand,
segurando sua mão, e ela dizer:
enquanto ia visitar outras mulheres ali.
with the women in the camp.
and firmly said, "Go.
e disse com firmeza: "Vai.
pessoa é inferior
to learn from others."
a aprender com outros".
my grandmother.
with the kids in the camp.
jogando futebol com as crianças.
what a great time I had
como tinha sido legal
using the word's different meaning,
usando o outro sentido da palavra,
believe in them."
of origin for the United States
e vim para os Estados Unidos
and was granted political asylum,
pedi e recebi asilo político,
social específico.
in some countries for being gay.
ser condenado a morte por ser gay.
I've ever had to make,
mas eu não tive escolha.
between home and survival,
entre seu país e sua sobrevivência,
becomes very loaded.
ganha um peso muito maior.
at a refugee camp in Greece
num campo de refugiados na Grécia,
she realized she had to flee Aleppo.
que percebeu que teria que deixar Aleppo.
and there was nothing.
no schools. Everything was gone.
Tudo tinha sumido.
and watching people die.
e vendo pessoas morrerem.
ninguém podia tirar meu lar de mim.
quando olhei para fora
but when I looked outside,
my three young children would die.
meus três filhos morreriam.
not because we wanted to.
não porque quisemos.
that you belong
quando você não tem um lar,
because of fear or persecution,
por causa de medo ou perseguição,
is completely destroyed.
está completamente destruída.
mas também não era americana.
que ainda hoje é difícil de definir.
to put into words today.
to find a place to call home.
um lugar para chamar de lar.
e acabei chegando na Carolina do Norte.
para minha entrevista de emprego.
for my new interview.
more isolated and incapable.
sozinha e incapaz.
at my lowest and gave me a job,
momento e me deu um emprego,
in the mountains of North Carolina.
nas montanhas da Carolina do Norte.
of my privileged upbringing
e da minha educação privilegiada,
to manage the restaurant.
the value of hard work.
o valor do trabalho pesado.
I felt valued and embraced.
me senti valorizada e acolhida.
Ramadan with me.
ao contar a ela que era gay,
about coming out to her --
you know that I'm gay."
that I will never forget.
Just don't be a slut."
Só não seja uma vadia."
still trying to find my home.
ainda à procura de um lar.
three years later,
inesperado três anos depois,
playing soccer outside.
de crianças jogando futebol.
into this apartment complex,
num complexo de prédios,
outside playing soccer.
with a raggedy soccer ball
e pedras como traves dos gols.
e no fim eu estava sorrindo.
I grew up playing soccer
with my brothers and cousins.
com meus irmãos e meus primos.
about letting me join it,
em me deixar participar,
girls don't know how to play.
mulheres não sabiam jogar.
ever played on a team.
jogado em algum time.
but that they would love to.
and we formed our first team.
e formamos nosso primeiro time.
a crash course in refugees, poverty
um curso intensivo em refugiados, pobreza
Roohullah, Noorullah and Zabiullah --
Roohullah, Noorullah and Zabiullah,
to find the field completely deserted.
e encontrei o campo totalmente vazio.
ran out from behind a dumpster,
saíram de trás da lixeira
Tinha sangue em todo lugar."
What do you mean he got beat up?"
Todo mundo fugiu com medo."
and beat him up, Coach.
até o apartamento de Rooh.
and drove over to Rooh's apartment.
to talk to him, see if he's OK."
com ele, ver se está bem."
He's refusing to come out."
Ele não quer sair."
or if we need to go to the hospital."
se tem que ir para o hospital."
a split lip,
o lábio cortado,
to call for their mom,
to the hospital with him.
e ela começou a gritar em farsi.
and she started screaming in Farsi.
funny about this.
was a Muslim and a woman."
era muçulmana e mulher!"
to be either to her.
nem uma coisa nem outra.
me virando para ela.
shorts-wearing, non-veiled woman,
usando shorts e sem véu,
foram assassinadas na vila dela.
a shell of the man he once was.
uma casca do homem que tinha sido.
age eight and 10 at the time,
de oito e dez anos à época,
to provide for their family.
para sustentar a família.
that they had been approved
ao descobrir que tinham sido aprovados
who get to do that.
que conseguem isso.
has had some version of this.
trabalhei tem sua versão dessa história.
their fathers' fingers sliced off.
seus pais terem os dedos amputados.
put in his grandmother's head,
tomar um tiro na cabeça,
take him to be a child soldier.
levarem-na para virar um soldado.
is hope, resilience, determination,
é esperança, resiliência, determinação,
de reconstruir suas vidas.
to rebuild their lives.
after cleaning 18 hotel rooms in one day.
18 quartos de hotel naquele dia.
of her once he graduated.
depois que se formasse.
We are lucky to be here."
Somos afortunados de estar aqui."
an escalating anti-refugee sentiment.
um sentimento contra os refugiados.
because we do nothing to prevent it
pois não fazemos nada para prevenir
from coming into our countries.
refugiados de virem para nossos países,
not forcing them to leave their own.
forçados a deixar os deles.
forced out of their homes
que ser expulsas das suas casas
blame and reject them
e rejeitando essas pessoas
absolutely nothing to do with,
absolutamente nada a ver.
them into our countries.
recebendo-as de braços abertos.
and treat them like criminals.
e as tratamos como criminosas.
a couple of weeks ago.
umas semanas atrás.
because we are refugees,
a gente porque somos refugiados
to reassure my students
does not hate refugees.
não odiava os refugiados.
tried to rip off her mother's hijab
tentou arrancar o hijab da mãe dela
team called her a terrorist
adversário a chamou de terrorista
where she came from.
de onde tinha vindo.
military as an interpreter
para o exército americano
as an American citizen.
como cidadã americana.
refugiados de todo o mundo.
more than them.
a nós do que nós a eles.
is considered something to be dirty,
"refugiado" é considerada algo ruim,
in every aspect of our lives --
aspectos das nossas vidas,
who have been forced out of their homes
obrigadas a deixar suas casas
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Luma Mufleh - Refugee activistLuma Mufleh does something revolutionary: she coaches soccer. A Jordanian immigrant and Muslim of Syrian descent, Mufleh is determined to empower refugee children everywhere.
Why you should listen
Luma Mufleh is the CEO and Founding Director of Fugees Family, Inc., a nonprofit organization that uses the power of soccer, education and community to empower refugee children to successfully integrate into the United States. Now, she's part principal, part tutor, the head of the first accredited private school dedicated to refugee education in the country, which encompases a summer camp and a college prep program -- and she’s building a community and support network that could be the national model the United States needs.
The Fugees' story began in 2004, when Luma took a wrong turn while driving through the town of Clarkston, Georgia and noticed a group of boys playing soccer in the street. She learned that these children were refugees from war-town countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Burma, Somalia and Sudan. That summer, Luma made fliers announcing tryouts for the Fugees soccer team. In the years that followed, the soccer team grew into something much larger -- a school, a tutoring program, a summer camp, a college prep program, and, most importantly, a community and support network.
A lifelong social entrepreneur, Luma has created several programs and initiatives that have gainfully employed, educated and empowered refugees and immigrants in her community and beyond, with the Fugees Academy serving as a national model for refugee education. While only 20 percent of refugee students graduate from high school in Georgia's DeKalb County, the Fugees Academy has a 90 percent graduation rate. These types of results helped earn Luma the 2016 Cournelle Award for Social Entrepreneurship from the Manhattan Institute.
A Jordanian immigrant and Muslim of Syrian descent, Luma received her U.S. citizenship in 2011. Her story -- and the story of the Fugees -- illustrates both the American dream and the very real challenges of integration and discrimination that so many face today. Luma received her B.A. in Anthropology from Smith College and recently completed the Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Luma Mufleh | Speaker | TED.com