Watch: The Afghan coach helping migrants find their footing in France

euronews (in English)

Shabnam Salahshoor grew up in a traditional society where women's sport is permanently on the sidelines.

Transcript

00:01Football has a big role in my life.

00:05Each time that I enter a football field, I feel freedom.

00:10I forget all my miseries, all my misfortunes,

00:15all the things that I endured during my life.

00:18Through football, I show them that as a girl,

00:22I can do whatever I want.

00:24My name is Shabnam.

00:26I empower people and migrants through sport.

00:30To help migrants, especially women,

00:41I work with different associations and Kabobo is one of them.

00:46Kabobo is an association that works to develop

00:50the social link between French and migrants.

00:54It means friendship through sport.

00:57I am in charge of Pink Love Project at Kabobo.

01:01I am mostly a football coach for our women football team.

01:06The football team, I integrated the last year.

01:10It starts with an escalation and ends with a match at the end.

01:15The Shabnam is a good coach.

01:18It's very motivating.

01:19It's encouraging.

01:20It makes a good atmosphere.

01:23It is helping me to decompress,

01:25defouler, and to fun.

01:31There are people who do sport for mental health, for well-being.

01:36For me, it was a way to express myself, to say I exist.

01:41exist. I was born and raised into a traditional society, so to be a girl you

01:50have to struggle with lots of challenges, with lots of taboos, with lots of

01:55difficulties. I started in 2014 as a professional football player in my

02:02country, Afghanistan. We were the first football team for women in our city. It

02:09was like a battlefield for us. We used to fight against a society. These

02:15challenges must not stop you. There are lots of opportunities. We just need to

02:21start somewhere. Before I was so fragile. Right now I am a strong person. Football

02:29changed my life. I can say saved my life.

02:35Being a migrant is not easy. A person leaves his family, his country, his friends,

02:45everything. It's so difficult to start from zero. We are like a child that needs to learn

02:52everything. They have to start again and continue normal life. I would like to be an

03:00inspiration for migrants who came here in France to just motivate them. We have a

03:07sport even for women, men, sometimes children, to just give them an opportunity to

03:13well integrate in a new society and also to be a sense of home for them.

03:19I come from Sudan. It's been six years since I've been in France. When I arrived in France,

03:26I was blocked. When you arrive in a country where you don't speak the language, you don't

03:30know where to go, what to do. I discovered Bobo by a friend who participated in my activities,

03:38football. These ateliers allow me to create connections with people.

03:42At Kabobo, we create opportunities for people. We help them to learn French, to improve their

03:56language, to create social networks, to just be a tool for their integration in French society.

04:04In the past, I don't know French. With the activity with Kabobo, it's better. I'm very happy

04:14with this association. Now, I know there's some new words in the French language. I have

04:22a lot of friends and Kabobo.

04:24We have a lot of friends and Kabobo.

04:25We have a lot of friends and Kabobo.

04:26We have moments where we feel the difficulties of these people and we create a social and

04:31human relationship between people who come from Chicago. It really allows us to communicate.

04:39Kabobo is one of the best best emotions here. one of the best experiences of Kabobo is

04:42all in the environment.

04:44Kabobo is one of the best qualities that I've ever seen on my prayers, although I focus

04:57on these challenges. There's a lot of things that have been missing in K JDM and

05:00when I meet me here, I want to get the biggest things you've made possible.

05:04I'm a girl, and I want to achieve my dream.

05:09I would like to be a positive role model for all the migrants

05:12and all the women all around the world

05:15to bring big change in our communities.

05:20A big lesson for me that I learned is to be nice to each other

05:26regardless of our differences,

05:28and accepting each other and help each other.

05:31I will continue to be stronger, courageous, and braver than before.

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