On World Refugee Day, don’t see girls as statistics — see their potential
Last week in Philadelphia, I went to a watch a friend play in a soccer tournament. She and her teammates were amazing — they dominated every match and won the championship!
These girls from Minnesota stood out on the field, because they are talented athletes and refugees.
My friend’s name is Zaynab. She’s captain of her team and she’s unstoppable. By 17, she was a refugee of three wars — in Somalia, Yemen and Egypt — and eventually resettled with her mother in Minnesota.
Two days after she arrived, Zaynab — who didn’t know English — enrolled in high school. They told her to wait until the next semester, but she had already been out of school for two years and didn’t want to waste any more time. Now she’s in college studying to become a human rights lawyer. Zaynab hopes to return to her home in Yemen and fight for justice.
I’m sharing this story with you because today is World Refugee Day. My hope is that when you think of refugee girls, you don’t see them as statistics, you see their potential.
They can be all-stars on a soccer field and all-stars in the medical field. They can run to block a goal or run a country. Zaynab, her teammates, and the 10 million out-of-school refugee children around the world are future doctors, scientists, teachers and leaders.
They are the generation that will rebuild their countries. But they can only succeed if we invest in their potential. Will you donate to Malala Fund today to support our programmes that give refugee girls a chance to learn?
