For the next few weeks, we’re bringing you change closer to home – in Minnesota, where ARC is headquartered. There are so many people and organizations that are already doing amazing things for refugees right in our own backyard. Green Card Voices is one of them – they’re an incredible group of people that give refugees and immigrants a platform to share their stories through video.
So we decided to help them do what they do best – by sponsoring the production of three videos, three refugee voices. These are our neighbors, people who have vastly different stories – but who all call the Midwest their home. The first was Rebecca. And the second is Muhend.
Meet Muhend.
When Muhend Abakar first arrived in Fargo, North Dakota, he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I opened the door and I saw white stuff,” he says, “and I was like ‘what is this?’” He soon learned that the “white stuff” was snow, and that it would become a regular part of his new life in Fargo.
Originally from South Darfur, Sudan, Muhend is no stranger to adjusting to new environments. His family moved to Egypt when he was four, and it took him a while to make friends. That is, before he discovered soccer.
“It’s easier to make friends through sports,” he said. “We became friends because we played soccer.”
Now a star athlete at South High School in Fargo, Muhend has taken these lessons and applied them to his life in the U.S. “When you’re good [at sports], they want to get to know you better. That motivates me to work harder and harder to make more friends.”
Muhend’s story is one of challenges and changes, but it’s also a testament to the ability for people to adapt, to reinvent themselves, and to thrive, despite the odds. By giving Muhend a platform to share his voice, Green Card Voices is doing the doable, one story at a time. And we’re proud to be even a small part in the amazing work that they do.
Listen to Muhend’s full story as told by Green Card Voices.
