Brazilian officials have held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a much-delayed $3 billion subway expansion in Rio de Janeiro less than a week before the Olympic Games begin. A group of 10 athletes from South Sudan, Syria, Congo and Ethiopia will compete in Rio under the Olympic flag.
Advertisement
“I have two brothers and I haven’t seen them”, explained Misenga, who has settled in Brazil. “I don’t know what they look like anymore because we were separated since we were small”.
“If you can see me on TV now I am alive and well and striving so that one day I can get a ticket for you to come here and live with me”, he said, his voice quivering as he wiped away the tears.
From Yusra Mardini, a teenage swimmer from Syria who braved a Mediterranean crossing in a leaky dinghy, to Popole Misenga, who spent eight days hiding in a forest as a terrified child to flee bloody fighting, each of the refugee athletes have overcome daunting odds to maintain their Olympic dreams.
“When I think of those things all those years ago I feel sad. So I send hugs and kisses to my brothers”. Anis fled Syria in 2011 to avoid being enlisted into the army, relocating to Belgium from Istanbul in October past year. This is the first chance for the refugees to participate in the Olympics and to give us hope, for us to encourage the young generations of fellow refugees who are remaining in the camps maybe to continue their talent, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, 23, told the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) prior to her departure.
Misenga was even more upbeat.
Another refugee from war in the Congo, Yolande Mabika, followed Misenga s journey by settling in Brazil.
Advertisement
Chiller said she had earlier raised concerns about widespread litter in the village, and that local contractors and workers had been smoking in the non-smoking venue.
