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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

My Baseball Glove is Famous!

Considering it was their first time in a major league ballpark, Hser Ku Moo, 16, (from left) and Lay Gay Moo, 14, middle, were quick to catch Braves fever. Jula Paw, 11, took some time to warm up to the situation, but once the sun went down, she caught the fever  and joined the others in the wave and "YMCA."





Youngsters new to America enjoy Braves game



The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/04/08

They learned the tomahawk chop and the wave.

As for who was playing or who was ahead at Wednesday's Phillies-Braves game at Turner Field, they weren't sure.

A group of refugee youngsters — new arrivals to America — celebrated the Fourth of July early. It was their first time in a major league ballpark, witnessing America's pastime.

The scoreboard was a mystery. The game of baseball, confusing.

For Thomas Mufolo, 16, the biggest thing was that everyone in the ballpark seemed happy.

"I'm having fun. I like the music," said Thomas, who fled war in Congo and grew up in a refugee camp in Zambia.

"I've never seen this game in Zambia," he said. "I used to play basketball and soccer."

World Relief, a refugee resettlement agency in Stone Mountain, brought a group of 19 middle school and high school students to the game in two big vans.

The children, ages 11 to 18, are from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) and Burundi, along with a pair of brothers each from Congo and Cuba. They have lived in the United States with their families about one year, in apartment complexes in Clarkston. Those from Myanmar, Congo and Burundi fled their countries years ago and grew up in refugee camps. Some were born in the camps.

Jerod Morant, a parking lot supervisor at Turner Field, drove his cart up to the group to say hello. He immediately sensed this was a special group of fans.

"I thought, 'Let me go over here and be nosy,' " Morant said.

He asked the kids where they were from and told them to shout "GO BRAVES" on the count of three. Their first try was weak. On the third try, they got it down.

Htoo Ra Moo, 14, of Myanmar, took in the view from the group's upper balcony $6 seats. She said she had never seen so many people in one place before. She was amazed at the size of the stadium.

Ya Day Moo, 18, also of Myanmar, agreed.

"I'm interested because I never been in a place like this before. I've never seen people playing — with my eyes," she said, meaning she's only seen baseball on television.

When the bugle call came over the loudspeaker and the crowd cried "charge!" some of the Burmese children looked up into the stands, wondering where the music came from. Earlier they were able to ride the escalators to the upper level with no problem. This was a big improvement over their first days in America, when escalators and revolving doors puzzled them, World Relief workers said.

Refugees from Myanmar are the newest group arriving in Atlanta. They fled their country and have waited in refugee camps, some for as long as 15 years, to come legally to the United States.

The brothers from Cuba said their father was a political refugee, an opponent of dictator Fidel Castro, who waited many years to leave Cuba.

Baseball was familiar territory for the Cubans.

Gabriel Ulloa Blanco, 15, pointed to Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar, who is also from Cuba. Gabriel and his brother, Grabiel, 12, had visited ballparks in Cuba, but they were smaller, he said.

The two boys commented on the green, uniform look of the field. They were impressed that it was real grass.

Grabiel couldn't take his eyes off the park's huge video screen, and he noticed that there was a restaurant inside the park — the Braves Chop House. Luxury! Vendors sold a wide variety of treats.

The kids didn't get the typical hot dog and peanuts at the ballpark, though, because the refugee agency operates on a tight budget. They had to ask donors for money for tickets and gas. Instead, each kid got a bag of chips, a bottle of water and a granola bar. One girl from Burundi was ready to leave at the seventh inning because she was hungry. The kids were told to eat before they came, but not everyone got the message.

Little Jula Paw, 11, of Myanmar, took some time before she enjoyed herself.

She hardly spoke a word and sweated streams up in the sunny seats. She kept rolling her program up into a cylinder.

Did she like baseball?

"No."

Why?

"Because I can't play it," she said through an older Burmese girl, who translated for her.

After the sun went down, though, Jula started to revive.

She joined the other Burmese girls in the back row doing the tomahawk chop, the wave and the "YMCA" song.

When Braves third baseman Chipper Jones hit a home run in the bottom of the eighth, and fireworks came out of the giant Coca-Cola bottle, there were smiles and giggles all around.



Considering it was their first time in a major league ballpark, Hser Ku Moo, 16, (from left) and Lay Gay Moo, 14, middle, were quick to catch Braves fever. Jula Paw, 11, took some time to warm up to the situation, but once the sun went down, she caught the fever  and joined the others in the wave and "YMCA."
Considering it was their first time in a major league ballpark, Hser Ku Moo, 16, (from left) and Lay Gay Moo, 14, middle, were quick to catch Braves fever. Jula Paw, 11, took some time to warm up to the situation, but once the sun went down, she caught the fever and joined the others in the wave and "YMCA."


The children are new arrivals to America, all refugee children from Myanmar, Burundi, Congo and Cuba. Here, Hser Ku Moo (left) and Jula Paw take the escalator up to their $6 seats, part of a group of 19 middle and high school students brought to the game by World Relief, a refugee resettlement agency in Stone Mountain.



Ya Day Moo, 18, (center) and Gorette Nimbona, 14, stand during the playing of the national anthem on Wednesday. The Braves played the Phillies.



Sumaili Gedeon, 12, tries on a baseball glove while his brother, Thomas Mufolo, 16, shields his eyes with a Braves program. For Thomas, who grew up in a refugee camp in Zambia, the best surprise was a ballpark full of happy people. "I've never seen this game in Zambia," he said.


Now that the game has started, it's time to practice fan skills. Case worker Kristine Van Noord teaches an important lesson to Htoo Ra Moo, 14, (left) and Ya Day Moo, 18: the proper arm movement for a tomahawk chop.



Though the scoreboard was a mystery and the game confusing, Niyonsenga Claudine, 12, (left) and Gorette Nimbona, 14, quietly got the hang of it.



That's the spirit! Lay Gay Moo holds up his glove in anticipation of a pop-fly.



In the back row, Tim Rhodes talks baseball with a barely visible Kagabi Noel, 15, while the rest of the crew soaks up the sun and the game. They are Hser Ku Moo, 16, (left middle,) Lay Gay Moo Kyaw Yen Win, 14, (bottom left,) and Nay Kaw, 16, (holding ticket.) Marcus Yam / myam@ajc.com

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