Meet Heman: SWB alumnus, college graduate, Head Coach
Today is World Refugee Day. Across the world,
65.6 million people are now displaced, or
1 in every 113 people on Earth. Of these, 22.5 million are refugees like Heman.
Heman came to the United States almost nine years ago from a refugee camp in Nepal (see: PRI story on the Bhutanese refugee crisis). Last month, Heman graduated from Loyola University and became a full-time coach with Soccer Without Borders Baltimore as a part of the AmeriCorps-funded Up2Us Coach program. At Loyola, Heman studied Communications, and self-produced this short digital story about his journey from the refugee camp to Baltimore.
In the last year, Soccer Without Borders has served newcomer refugee, asylee, and immigrant youth from 43 countries. Like Heman, 14 of our 46 coaches are refugees themselves. Their resilience, determination, and desire to support the next generation of newcomers inspires us every day.
Soccer Without Borders serves young people who have fled many of the world's fastest-growing and protracted conflicts, including youth from Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Nepal, Syria, and Yemen. A welcoming and inclusive team environment is uniquely suited to support newcomers to adapt to their new surroundings, and the familiarity of soccer can be a source of comfort and place to heal.
