Coach Luma Mufleh and the Fugees Family

for creating a soccer team and support
system for child survivors of war

Fugees Family, Inc. is devoted to working with child survivors of war, building upon the power of soccer to give them the support and structure they need to realize their vast potential.

Luma Mufleh started coaching the team in 2004 as a means to provide refugee boys with access to organized soccer. Two years later, she founded the Fugees Family organization. Since then, programming has grown to include year-round soccer for 90 boys aged 10 to 18.

The Fugees Family provides a space for the boys to heal and meet others who have been through similar experiences. On the Fugees Family teams are Africans and Asians, Northern and Southern Sudanese and Sunni and Shia Muslims. The atmosphere of cooperation allows the boys to find their commonalities instead of focusing on their differences.

The Fugees Family also works to provide the children with access to education. Over the past five years, the organization has developed after-school tutoring, a private academy and an academic enrichment camp. The Fugees become involved in many aspects of the boys’ lives, committing to work with the whole individual.  They set high expectations on and off the soccer field, they foster a family atmosphere, and they have fun.

Luma Mufleh was born in Amman, Jordan.  She received a degree in anthropology from Smith College, and has been a soccer coach for ten years.

www.fugeesfamily.org

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