Women's soccer

Although they play on the same team on the soccer field their biographies could hardly be more different. Celia Okoyino da Mbabi, her father from Cameroon and her mother French, was born in the western German city of Bonn.

At that time the city was the capital of the former West Germany, and Mbabi says the place had an international feel to it. She went to a multicultural school, and said she never experienced discrimination because of her dark skin.

"Honestly, I've very rarely experienced any problems because of my multicultural background," she says. "In elementary school once or twice maybe, but that's it. Later, we moved to a small village where everyone knew everyone else, and I played soccer on a team with all the boys. Even there we were all friends."

Meanwhile, Fatmire Bajramaj was only five when her family fled Kosovo and ended up in the western German city of Moenchengladbach. For the petite woman, who goes by the nickname Lira, those first few years were tough.

"The German children used to avoid my older brother and I," she says. "We were never allowed to play with them, and they'd always just call us foreigners. I think our young lives were a bit more troublesome than Celia's. It wasn't until I started to play soccer that people started to give me a little more respect. Since then things have been fine."

Lira went on to be selected for national team honors in 2005 and has since featured in the squad's midfield. She has scored three goals for Germany and was one of the stars of the 2007 women's World Cup in China.

Reaching out

The 21-year-old Bajramaj says she tries to use her high public profile to help others. She says she regularly receives letters from German girls with immigrant backgrounds who are looking for help or advice.

"I get E-mails from girls with foreign backgrounds who experienced war, many of them worse than I did," she says. "Some letters are from girls from Morocco or Turkey; some are from small girls who tell me that I'm their role model. Many ask me how I've got to where I am, and for me it's great to be able to help."

Recently, the parents of German national team players, both with and without immigrant backgrounds, gathered to honor their children's achievements. Both Bajramaj and Mbabi note with pride that their parents were there to mix with the other parents. Mbabi added that mixing with others and working together to fix common problems is one of the best ways to find your place in a new community.

"If people work and play together and can see that they can succeed together, then respect and acceptance will follow. Once you reach that point, a person's origin plays no role whatsoever," she says.

Author: Martina Knief/dfm

Editor: Chuck Penfold