Soccer on U.S. soil brings refugees together

 Read about how refugees unite over soccer (retrieved from NEWSELA):

FULLERTON, Calif. — Sahin Sarwari takes a moment to look around.

There is a lush soccer field, cloudy skies, rows of homes and a Target store nearby.

“Peaceful here,” the 15-year-old said. “Very nice.”

Sahin, his parents and five brothers are refugees from Afghanistan. They have been in the country for about a month. Refugees are people who leave their countries to escape war or other problems.

On a Saturday morning, he came to the field in Fullerton with two of his younger brothers. They went as part of a fundraiser by the Tiyya Foundation. The foundation helps refugees feel at home in their new place.

For Sahin, the suburban neighborhood is very different from Kabul where he grew up.

A New Life In California

“In Kabul, there are no good schools,” says the teen, now in his first year at Loara High School in Anaheim, California. “(Back home), there are no parks to play. There is no security.”

On this day, he and his brothers are playing soccer for the first time. They had only watched it on television before.

Tiyya Foundation’s soccer program helps children. It helps them make new friends. These children are mostly from war-torn families. The families came to the United States to begin new lives, said co-founder Meymuna Hussein-Cattan.

She's One Of Them

Hussein-Cattan said she understands what these families face. She came here from an Ethiopian refugee camp in Somalia in 1984. She was 5 years old.

She started the soccer program in the summer of 2011. Sixty-four children signed up right away.

The children and grown-ups at the field are from many different countries.

Soccer brings them together, Hussein-Cattan said.

The foundation takes the children to the Fullerton field for games. The program serves as a meeting place not just for the children, but for parents as well.

Fitting In

Baydaa Alkhalidi of Anaheim came to the U.S. two years ago from Egypt. She said she loves to watch her two boys play. 

“It’s healthy for them,” she said. “When we come here, we get to see other people. Playing with other children gives my sons the feeling that they are part of a community.”

Alkhalidi and her family left their hometown of Baghdad, Iraq, in 2006. It was getting dangerous with bombings. They moved to Cairo, Egypt, and remained there until 2 1/2 years ago.

“We went through a lot,” she said. “But when we come here and see, we understand we are not alone. Many others have gone through the same struggle.”