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Faith, Focus, Fight and Finish - The Clarkston GA boys XC team Part 4 - Mary Albl

Published by
DyeStat.com   Oct 14th 2015, 4:56pm
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Suheib Mohamed: From Kenya to Clarkston

 

By Mary Albl for DyeStat

 

Suheib Mohamed was apprehensive about joining the Clarkston High cross country team three years ago.

 

“I thought cross country was running across from country to country,” he explained. “And then they (my future teammates) started laughing.”

 

Mohamed has since learned what the sport is actually about. And in the process, the 16-year-old from Kenya has found a special niche in the Clarkston, Ga. running community that has served not only an outlet for his talent, but a subtle reminder of the every day goals he is chasing after.

 

“He worries about his family, and he wants to make sure everything is good,” Clarkston cross country coach Wesley Etienne said. “He’s a quiet leader, but at the same time, he’s forever young. He’s a big kid at heart.”

 

Mohamed’s path to now living in America is a story filled with hopefulness about the future and appreciation for where he has been. In many ways it's the same for a lot of immigrants who have settled in Clarkston, which for the last 20 years has become a staging ground for refugees and newcomers from other continents -- all hoping for a shot at freedom and opportunity.

 

Mohamed grew up in Garrisa, Kenya. The city is in lowland Kenya, not in the famous highlands where many of the world’s great runners are born. It’s dry and hot. Eight months of the year Garrisa is warmer than Phoenix, Ariz. and the other four months are not far behind.

 

Growing up in Garrisa, Mohamed lived with his mom, Rukia, four brothers and sisters, uncle and grandmother. It was a crowded household and not always picturesque.

 

“You’d have to walk like four miles to get water,” he said. “But we were happy. We struggled, but what we had, we were blessed with.”

 

Mohamed didn’t meet his father till 2009. His dad, Abdifatah Ibrahim, moved to the United States in 2000 by the help of Mohamed’s aunt, Fartun Ibrahim.

 

Mohamed said his father came to America looking for new opportunities and to help his family find a better life.  

 

Mohamed explained he was too young at the time his father left to remember anything about him. His mom didn’t want him to go to America, fearing what thousands of miles of separation would do to the family.

 

“My mom and I are very close and she did not want for that to break apart,” Mohamed said.

 

In 2009 his father came back to Kenya to visit for a few months. That was the first time Mohamed met him. 

 

“It was a lot of different extremes,” Mohamed said of his emotions. “It was different … but from that day I chose to have a relationship with him.”

 

In the summer of 2011, Mohamed left Kenya, along with his older brother, Anas, and younger sister, Salma, to move to America and live with their father and aunt.

 

The decision to leave was based on getting a better education and finding a job to help the family.  

 

“I know what I left behind in my country and there are a lot of people who are rooting for me,” he said.

 

Life is different now for Mohamed. The United States isn’t what he envisioned and he misses the people he left behind.

 

Three of his sisters and one brother still live in Kenya with his uncle and grandmother.

 

Mohamed’s mom is now remarried and lives in South Africa, along with one of his brothers.

 

“It’s hard, I miss her (my mom),” Mohamed said. “She has diabetes and I was the one who helped and supported her.”

 

But for Mohamed, living in Georgia has provided him with new opportunities that he’s embraced.

 

At Clarkston, he’s part of a diverse population. More than 50 nations are represented at the school and many of the students there share similar stories and struggles. They’ve come to the U.S. for many reasons, including economics and safety.

 

Mohamed joined the cross country team as a freshman, running with his older brother, Anas, who graduated in 2015. The two were part of the 2014 team that won the program’s first ever state championship.

 

“It was so exciting. Winning was completely amazing,” Mohamed said. “It was something we achieved together.”

 

Now, with his brother and many of the top individuals graduated, Etienne said Mohamed started to feel the burden of needing to be the guy to replace them.

 

“This summer was a little bit of a rough one for him,” Etienne said. “He started feeling the pressures of him having to shoulder the change. And he was ready to bow out.”

 

As with other life situations back home, Mohamed was feeling the need to bare the weight of a responsibility he wasn’t ready for. But with a solid support system, Mohamed found his way.

 

“We just want you to be yourself, that’s what we told him,” Etienne said. “He’s now back to what we thought he would be and what we expected him to be.”

 

This fall, Mohamed has medaled in every single race for Clarkston. Etienne said it’s a blend of natural ability and self-motivation.

 

“There are many people who are talented but if they don’t have the work ethic, they don’t know how great they can be,” Etienne said.

 

Mohamed and Clarkston will next compete at the Nike Fleet Feet Coach Wood Invitational on Oct. 17 in Gainesville, Ga.

 

Mohamed said his mother is working on moving to America. In the meantime, he is focused on his many dreams for the future, starting with graduating high school in 2017.

 

 

“He’s got a big personality,” Etienne said with a laugh. “Sometimes I’m like, ‘he doesn’t want to grow up.’ Forever young.”



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