What it’s like to run for your life
Refugee Rose Nathike Lokonyen ran from horrific violence in South Sudan — all the way to the Olympic Games.
When Rose Nathike Lokonyen was eight-years-old, she and her family watched as soldiers began killing their neighbours. When night fell, Rose’s parents grabbed her younger siblings and set out for safety. Rose, the eldest, followed close behind. The family made it to the border South Sudan shares with Kenya. From there, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, provided trucks to take them to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya’s northwest. The camp, established in 1992, hosts nearly 200,000 refugees, making it the largest in Africa. Many of the refugees there, like Rose, are from South Sudan, where war and tribal conflicts have forced close to 2.2 million people to seek safety in other countries. Roughly 1.6 million people who fled their homes remain displaced inside South Sudan.
In 2015, when the International Olympic Committee’s Refugee Olympic Team held trials in Kakuma, a teacher suggested Rose participate. Rose won her 10,000 metres race barefoot. She began training almost immediately, and in 2016 she marched into Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro carrying the flag representing the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team.
Since then, Rose has become a High Profile Supporter for UNHCR and has shared her story widely as she advocates for bringing sports to refugee children. Sport, she says, “has the power to change lives.” Rose, 28, continues to train with her teammates from Kakuma — though not always all together given COVID-19 restrictions — in the hope of making it to the Tokyo Games this year.
She also continues her advocacy work, including most recently helping UNHCR create “The Journey,” a video launched today that dramatizes a refugee woman’s journey from conflict to the starting line, highlighting the power of sport to bring hope and change the lives of all those forced to flee. Released to mark the UN’s International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, it is part of a global campaign to build support for the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic Teams.
“The story of ‘The Journey’ is similar to my own and that of my fellow refugee athletes,” explained Rose. “I hope people will support to the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic Teams.
UNHCR’s Sarah Schafer spoke with Rose from the Tegla Loroupe Refugee Athletes’ Training Centre in Ngong, near Nairobi, about running, childhood friends and her second love — football. An edited excerpt below.
Where does your story begin?
So maybe I can start from South Sudan. There was a war between two tribes — my tribe and another tribe. They tried to attack us. They burned all the houses and also started killing the neighbours. But at least I and my parents managed to escape from the house at night.
How did you handle the new life in Kakuma? You left almost everything you had behind.
I was only eight-years-old. For me, it was a new place and I didn’t even know whom to play with because I left all my friends in South Sudan. And also there was a language barrier. I couldn’t speak Arabic, or English or Swahili. Eventually at least we made friends because we had so many nationalities there. They didn’t say, ‘you have to go with your tribe and stay there.’ No. They just put you with everyone so we got used to it.
Do you remember your first friend in the camp?
Her name was Adieu, and she was from another [South Sudanese] tribe. We got to play football in primary school and we normally played together. When it was break time in school, we normally worked together and also had fun with some of our other schoolmates.
Do you see her anymore?
I don’t see her now. I hope one day to meet with her. But I couldn’t even recognize her!
I understand your family is a big support to you. How?
I’m the first [child] in the family. We are ten in number, three girls then seven boys. Most of my siblings are in Kakuma Refugee Camp, together with my parents and some cousins as well. When I was in Kakuma taking care of my younger siblings they supported me by saying, ‘never give up, you have to do a lot of work and also you have to be committed to your work….You overcome so many challenges because that’s part of life. You have to continue.’
Do they ever run with you?
My younger siblings used to run with me. I normally train with my brother.
But they’re not as fast as you, right?
Yeah, they normally play football. They have some fields and sports activities in Kakuma. We have a football club and also we have basketball and volleyball, all these types of games.
Do you ever have time to play football?
Before I joined UNHCR’s Refugee Athletes Project, I was a footballer. Normally when I go for an easy run in the evening, after that I watch football. If they have a game or are doing practice, I normally join.
If you weren’t going to run, what other sport would you do?
Of course soccer! I love playing football.
What subjects did you like in school?
When I was in high school, my favourite subject was geography…When you study the map, you have to be keen on details and it helps you know more about countries in the world. Living in a refugee camp, I didn’t know [how it fit] into the world. Sometimes I heard of Nairobi. But since now I travel a lot, geography comes to my mind and it was very important. At least I can read the map and follow directions. I’ve been to Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, the UK…so many countries.
Which did you like?
I think the UK because most of my classmates from high school are in the UK. In 2017, I went for the World [Athletics] Championships.
Did you have time to have fun there?
We had time after the competition. We went to Chelsea [Football Club’s] stadium and got to talk to some of the officials. They showed us the changing rooms and around the stadium.
You’ve been to Rio. I was reading about your carrying the Refugee Olympic Team flag there and I was wondering, what were you thinking at the time?
I was a bit nervous. You know, people were really welcoming us with warm, clapping hands and also cheering for us. All of the nationalities were cheering for us. We felt like we were human beings. As long as refugees are given the chance to expose their talents to the world, I think they are able to change their lives through sport. One day, somebody can maybe take their talent or knowledge back to rebuild their nation and maybe encourage the young generation. Sport brings people together.
I know that’s a big part of your message. What would you tell people they could do right now to make life better for refugees?
They can support refugees by creating [sports] programmes, especially for boys and girls. They can also use their voices to encourage refugees and speak to the world about refugees. I think they can change the lives of others. We have so many refugees around the world. As long as they get support, they can support their families and also the younger generations.
For more like this, read this opinion piece by refugee Olympian Yiech Pur Biel.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people.
