Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference

The Fugees begin their game against the all-white Blue Springs Liberty Fire at a disadvantage: The field is smaller than they’re used too, and they need to wake up early to make the 9:00 a.m. start time. The first half of the game is difficult, as the Fugees struggle to wake up. To his frustration, Qendrim is targeted multiple times. At halftime, the Fugees are down 1-0, and Luma accuses the team of allowing themselves to be pushed around. The speech motivates the boys to score early in the second half. The opposing team’s parents start to grow more vocal as the game progresses and call out Luma’s secret tactic of bringing one player from defense onto offense. With minutes to go, the Fugees take the lead. Qendrim enjoys running out the clock and taunts the player who targeted him. The Fugees win the game.

The next day, the under-15s play an important away game against a team called the Santos—their first game since Tito’s shooting and the canceled practices. Mandela’s attitude continues to deteriorate, as he misses his Liberian friends who have left the team. After two early shots on goal, the Fugees are trailing 3-0 at halftime. Mandela swears loudly in front of Luma, who benches him for the rest of the game. The Fugees lose 6-1. Luma drives Mandela home and tells him he’s off the team, heartbroken by the decision.

Jeremy Cole, a coordinator at Refugee Family Services near Clarkston and a convert to Islam, is familiar with the disappointment and burnout that comes with working with refugee communities. However, he feels that his work with refugees has taught him what is important in life.

The poultry-processing industry relies on the labor of undocumented immigrants and, increasingly, refugees. Although refugees have legal status, they share undocumented immigrants’ willingness to work unappealing jobs in factories and processing plants at difficult hours for little pay. Because they also often share undocumented immigrants’ valid distrust of authorities, refugee workers are unlikely to report dangerous working conditions, making them vulnerable to exploitation. Generose Ntwari has taken a night shift job at a processing plant an hour’s drive away from her home. Her oldest son, 15-year-old Alex, takes on the role of caretaker and housekeeper for his younger siblings, including his infant sister, while his mother is at work.

Beatrice Ziaty worries that Mandela’s dismissal from the Fugees will put him in danger while she works at night. Her friend David Faryen, also a Liberian immigrant, feels that America is a bad influence on Liberian people. He believes that Liberians must preserve their traditions in order to help their children succeed.

Idwar and Robin Dikori are the youngest players on the Fugees, at 12 and nine years old, respectively. They are refugees from the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan, a lush and fertile region comprised of nearly 50 different ethnic groups. In 1992, the Sudanese government launched a violent initiative to drive indigenous groups from the valleys to transfer the land to government use. In the resulting genocide, nearly one fifth of the population, approximately 200,000 people, were killed. The Dikori family fled from their village to Khartoum and then to Cairo before being accepted for resettlement in Georgia. Two years after settling in Georgia, Smira Dikori, the boy’s mother, and their three sisters were killed in a car accident while on a family road trip. Shortly after the accident, the brothers stumbled upon a Fugees practice. They joined the team, which ultimately became their surrogate family.

Having been rejected from his high school’s junior varsity soccer team, David Anderson, head coach of the Athens Gold Valiants, uses that rejection to motivate his coaching. His team, including Austrian immigrant Joni Scherzer, is disciplined and motivated, and they hope to continue their undefeated streak.

Luma is pulled over by a police officer on the drive to Athens for the Fugees’ match against the Valiants. She realizes that one of her taillights is out and hopes to be back on the road shortly, but the bus carrying the Fugees turns to wait for her. The officer informs Luma that her license is expired, and the team watches while Luma is arrested. The Fugees continue to their game but struggle without a coach and lose 5-0. Team assistant Tracy brings the team with her to bail Luma out of jail.

Shortly after Luma’s arrest, a riot occurs at the Congo prison where Paula Bagemire’s husband, Joseph, is being held: Five men are dead, and 14 have escaped. With little reporting on the incident, Paula and her sons are forced to wait and hope to hear from Joseph.

In order to cheer up the Fugees after her arrest and the Bagemires’ difficult news, Luma decides to organize a Halloween outing for the Fugees. She buys matching ninja costumes for the boys and uses the YMCA bus to take them to an affluent suburb known for trick-or-treating. The boys, who are mostly unfamiliar with the concept of trick-or-treating, marvel at the large, elaborate houses and the abundance of candy at each house. After a slow start, they have a wonderful time, though they don’t interact with other kids trick-or-treating. Later that night, there is a shooting outside the Bagemire family’s home.

On the way to his game, Natnael, the leader of the Fugees’ under-15 team, asks Joseph, a veteran of the under-17s, why he never talks about his father. Joseph responds that the details are too painful to recount. When Natnael arrives at the field, the Fugees are listless and distracted. They had hoped to make the State Cup but are playing their final game in hopes of staying out of last place. Because they’d previously beat a team that beat their current opponents, Luma feels confident that they have a chance. However, the boys display a lazy attitude and find themselves losing 2-0 at the half. Luma feels as if the boys are not even trying. Furious, she calls the team a bunch of idiots and refuses to coach the second half. Although the Fugees score a goal, they ultimately lose the game, and their season ends.

Unlike the older boys, the under-13s tend to adhere to Luma’s rules for tutoring and practice, and their attitude during games is better. Since the beginning of the season, the boys have grown more confident as individuals and as a team, improving athletically and academically. Most importantly, the boys watch out for each other, providing aid (such as winter coats) when needed. Toward the end of the season, the YMCA donates portable regulation-size goals to the team, allowing them to practice set plays like corners and free kicks.

Before their final game, Luma encourages the under-13s to play to their strengths and keep their cool. The team prays a Christian prayer and a Muslim prayer before starting. The Fugees win their final game 2-1. As a reward for a strong season, Luma enters the Fugees in the Tornado Cup, a tournament for the area’s best teams.

Luma organizes a scrimmage with the under-15s to prepare the under-13s for their tournament. The under-13s lose but manage to score a goal, buoying their confidence.

The tournament begins on a Saturday, with the Fugees’ first game against a team they previously beat. The Fugees are down 1-0 at halftime, and Luma criticizes them harshly. Chastened, the Fugees come back in the second half to win 3-1. They have under an hour to rest before their next game, which they lose 2-1. On Sunday, the team must win to advance. A small group of fans shows up to support the Fugees, but they are quickly drowned out by the opposing team’s parents. The Fugees lead the game 2-1 until the final moments, and the game ends in a tie, ending the season.

The day after Christmas, Mayor Swaney revokes the Fugees’ permission to practice at Milam Park. Luma begins the search for a new home for the Fugees.

Luma reconciles with her parents, who fly to Georgia to visit her. Paula Balegamire learns that her husband, Joseph was not hurt in the prison riot; he is soon released. Mandela and Luma reconcile, and she encourages him to apply for Job Corps, a government-funded continuing education and vocational training program. Mandela is accepted and graduates with a high school diploma. Many of the Fugees succeed academically. Some parents, such as Beatrice and Generose, move their families out of Clarkston. Luma mourns these losses, but new refugee families quickly take their place.

In 2007, St. John publishes a piece about the Fugees in The New York Times. As a result of the publicity, the town reaffirms the Fugees’ right to practice at Milam Park. Donations and film rights allow Luma to take full ownership of the program and fund more tutoring sessions and new equipment. Relations between Clarkston and refugees continue to improve.