Somali-born boxer Ramla Ali has spent her life preventing — first for survival, then for change. From escaping Somalia’s civil warfare to moving into the Olympic ring, she’s turned her personal story of wrestle into a strong mission to uplift others.
Now, the boxer, model, and UNICEF ambassador is utilizing her platform to advocate for displaced individuals and ladies’ training. Her newest journey took her to Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp, one of many largest on the planet.
Ali fled Somalia together with her household after her brother was killed during the civil war. They spent a couple of 12 months in Kenya earlier than resettling in London, the place Ali found boxing as a young person. What started as a manner to achieve confidence and escape bullying turned a lifelong calling.
“I was a young girl, bullied in secondary school,” she advised NCS. “Boxing was a space where I could make friends. I was gaining confidence as my body changed, and I was getting healthier. That’s what I loved most — and over time it became something I wanted to master.”
Boxer Ramla Ali is utilizing sport as her platform for change
Her rise was extraordinary. Ali received England’s nationwide and Great British titles and claimed the 2019 African Zone Featherweight Crown as an newbie boxer. In 2020, she made historical past as the primary boxer to signify Somalia on the Olympics, in Tokyo — turning into an emblem of resilience and illustration.
“You can’t be what you can’t see,” Ali stated. “If people can see me doing it, then maybe they’ll believe they can too.”
In September, Ali’s path got here full circle when she returned to Kenya with UNICEF and the Danish Refugee Council, visiting communities in Nairobi’s Dandora and Eastleigh neighborhoods and later touring north to Dadaab.
There, she met ladies, moms, and lecturers working to construct higher futures regardless of dwindling support. For Ali, the expertise was an emotional reminder of what might have been.
“Had I not left Kenya, this could have been me,” she stated. “It’s humbling to see how these women are doing everything they can to give their kids a chance.”
At the Kasarani Sasa recycling group in Dandora, a collective of greater than 200 waste pickers — principally refugee girls — Ali joined in with the work, serving to to kind and weigh plastic and cardboard. The program gives childcare and casual training for his or her youngsters whereas providing moms a secure manner to earn an revenue.
“You always think about these things, but when you see it firsthand, it’s different,” Ali stated. “If we hadn’t left Kenya, this could have been my mum in this situation. It’s heartbreaking, because you want to help everyone — but there are so many.”
At FilmAid Kenya, a inventive studying program in Dadaab that teaches filmmaking and storytelling to younger refugees, Ali shared her personal story with college students. Many of the ladies, she stated, had desires of turning into medical doctors, nurses, or psychologists — regardless of the challenges of rising up in a camp.
“It was really important for me to tell them how education changed my life,” she stated. “Even in an environment like this, they’re still hopeful and determined to achieve their dreams. Every dream matters.”
Ali was particularly moved by a 15-year-old pupil who advised her that earlier than FilmAid, she had by no means touched a digital camera, however now she desires of turning into a movie director.
“It’s amazing to see how access to something as simple as a camera can change how a young person sees the world,” Ali stated. “These are the opportunities that keep hope alive.”
But with world support cuts threatening packages, she worries for his or her future.
“If funding disappears, classrooms like these might not exist anymore,” Ali stated. “It’s devastating, because these programs are lifelines. They give children a reason to dream.”
For Ali, giving again isn’t an afterthought; it’s central to who she is. Since 2018, she has served as a UNICEF ambassador, visiting refugee communities and supporting packages for kids’s training and gender equality.
She additionally runs the Ramla Ali Sisters Club, a nonprofit that provides free boxing and health periods for ladies who may in any other case be excluded from sport — together with survivors of home abuse, Muslim girls looking for women-only areas, and people from low-income backgrounds.
“Sisters Club started with me donating an hour a week,” she stated. “I had three jobs at the time, but I wanted to create a safe space for women who had nowhere else to go.”
What started as a single class has since expanded to a number of golf equipment in cities like London, New York, and Florida.
“For everything I do in the ring, I want to be remembered for what I do outside of it,” Ali stated.
“The service you provide to others is the rent you pay on this Earth.”
Standing in the identical nation that when sheltered her, Ali mirrored on how far she’s come and the way a lot nonetheless wants to be completed.
“This trip was personal,” she stated. “It reminded me that I was once in their situation. And if my story can show even one young girl that there’s hope, then it’s all worth it.”
From refugee to position mannequin, athlete to advocate, Ali continues to show that true energy isn’t measured in victories — however within the lives you uplift alongside the way in which.