Ep 70: Yusra Mardini

Reign with Josh Smith

This special episode is a reminder, in the face of so much hateful rhetoric from government officials, that refugees need our allyship, not our prejudice.
Today we are joined by one of the most inspirational people I have ever met, Yusra Mardini who has overcome what are unimaginable obstacles for most of us, but which are daily obstacles for so many fleeing prejudice and war the world over.
In March 2011 when civil war broke out in Syria, Yusra - trained by her father - had dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer. But by August 2015 she and her sister, Sarah had no choice but to leave their family behind and undertake a journey which no one should have to.
Their perilous journey to Europe saw the sisters fly to Istanbul before paying human traffickers to take them to Greece, and overland to Germany.
What occurred in the sea en route to Greece is beyond harrowing. With 18 people on board, the dingy started to sink and for three hours Yusra and Sarah had no option but to swim alongside the boat.
Not only did Yusra make it to Germany, but after finding a new coach, she signed up to represent the refugee team at the 2016 Rio Olympics; a true testament to human determination. She went on to carry the Olympic flag for the Refugee team at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics and has since been named a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to help spread awareness of the plight of refugees.
It’s no wonder the Mardini sister's story has now been made into one of the most moving films I have ever seen, The Swimmers, which is now available on Netflix.
The Swimmers is a timely story everyone needs to watch and even more pressing when you consider Sarah Mardini could be facing decades in prison after returning to Lebos to help vulnerable people arriving on Greek shores.
I hope you find this powerful conversation with Yusra just as inspiring as I did and if you do want to find out more about how you can help refugees the world over please visit choose.love.
I also hope you keep on listening and finding the power to Reign in your own lives, too. If you love this episode, please get in touch (follow me across social media @joshsmithhosts), I love hearing from you. Love, Josh xxx

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