(Macheete)
Yusra Mardini is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and an Olympic swimmer.
In 2015, she fled Syria with her sister due to the war, which was a hindrance to her lifelong dream of swimming, often posing a threat of a bomb as she trained in the pool. Halfway on the journey from Syria to Greece, the boat that they travelled in alongside other refugees began to sink due to the motor malfunctioning. As swimmers, Yusra and her sister bravely volunteered to pull the boat manually for 3 and a half hours through the Aegean sea until she reached the shore. In a BBC interview, Yusra voiced her worries of ‘dying along the way but I’m almost dead in my country.’ After reaching the Greek shore, she fled to a refugee camp in Germany, where she was able to reignite her passion for swimming, which saved her life and 20 others.
(From left to right: Martial Trezzini, Keystone, AP; Reuters; IOC Media, NBCNews, Youtube)
As a swimmer, it was disheartening to hear how, for a long time in Syria, Yusra was unable to transform her handwork into the progression of her swimming. But, it is inspiring to see how, instead of succumbing to this frustration, Yusra realized that she needed and will make a change, no matter the intensity sacrifices that was entangled with this new change. She also realized that she needed to make sacrifices for the people around so they too could fulfill their desire for change in their lives, even when that meant risking her own. And she did.
Yusra shows the world the power of passion. A passion within her that was able to override any reservations of fleeing her country, lingering in the uncertain waters separating her home and Europe. She teaches us young women that both forces that could prevent or propel a dream into fruition is resting within your mind: fear and hope; and that it is within our capabilities to strengthen the latter. Women, girls around the world, please the strength that Yusra showed in her journey towards her dream and let it instill an inner power within your own hearts to wade through any unchartered waters that lays between you and your dream.
(Alexander Hassenstein, IOC)
Sources:
Text -
BBC News, "Team Refugee: From swimming the Aegean Sea to the Rio Olympics"
Thomas Reuters Foundation, "Refugee to Rio: Syrian swimmer splashes into stardom"
Photos -
Martial Trezzini, Keystone, AP
IOC Media, NBCNews, Youtube
Alexander Hassenstein, IOC
Reuters
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