Drivers wanted!

Manusha’s family emigrated to Portland from the Congo, via South Africa. We first met him and his brother Miradi in Powell Park where they showed up for one of our summer soccer nights. Like many of our kids they had the talent and desire to play competitively, so we found them local teams, paid their fees, and made a commitment to get them to every practice and every game. As you can see here, Manusha is thriving with the Southeast Soccer Club’s Chieftains team (10-year-olds).

It’s a success story that we repeat again and again as we connect refugee and immigrant kids to the larger Portland communities around them, to new friends and great coaches and mentors, helping them build life skills that will pay dividends for decades.

It’s a beautiful process, but it takes a small army of drivers to make it happen. We had 16 kids accepted into competitive leagues this summer. Multiply that by scores of games and practices and you can imagine the challenge. Some of the children’s hard-working parents have the time and transportation to do the driving but most don’t.

As a driver myself, I can tell you that it takes some commitment, but I go away from every experience feeling inspired. There is just no denying the deep impact this has on a young kid’s life.

If you can volunteer to be a 4 Worlds driver, even occasionally, please let us know by emailing Renée at renee@4worldsunited.org.