Galia Loupan is the chief content officer of Marie Claire International, working on brand identity and coordinating content collaboration across Marie Claire editions around the world, including France, the UK, Russia, China, Australia, Argentina, and Turkey, among other countries. She is based in France.
Yusra Mardini is an inspiration. At only 17 years old, she fled her war-torn home country of Syria with her sister, both swimmers training at the highest level. As the small boat she was on with 18 other refugees broke down in the middle of the Mediterranean, Mardini and her sister jumped in the water and pulled the boat to safety. After reaching European shores and finding her final refuge in Germany, she went back to training and ended up participating in the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
To be honest with you, there was not like one specific event. It just wasn’t safe to live in Syria. We lost our home, two years into the war, and started renting apartments, which became very expensive, and we had to move every three months. My father left to be a swim coach in Jordan where the pay would be better. The Olympic pool I was training in was also targeted all the time because it was seen as a military base. One time I had to hide under my desk in the school. It just wasn’t safe.
I recently just came back from Kenya, where I saw so many incredible programs that are teaching some refugees in the camp how to become directors and producers and football and basketball players. It was just incredible to see that even in these really, really hard circumstances, they are still trying to pursue their dreams through education and sports.
So my goal is to give as many refugees around the world the possibility to pursue their dreams. We now have programs in Kenya, France, and Greece.Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.
Of course, I understood that I was one, but I didn’t want to be known worldwide for it. It took me a while to be okay with that. But in the end, I understood that a lot of people would be looking up to us, a lot refugees would be watching from refugee camps. We realized that our responsibility was way bigger than any of the other athletes.It’s not just your dream anymore. It’s about changing something.
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