Luma Mufleh was born and rised in Amman, Jordan. Her family was wealthy, so she was able to attend an international school. At this school, she learned to speak English at a very high level and had a soccer coach who taught her to train extremely hard. Her family decided that it was a good idea for her to attend university in the United States. After spending four years in the States, she decided she wanted to stay, which her family did not approve of. They cut her off financially, so she moved to North Carolina with a friend and got a job at a restaurant.
Luma decided to move to Georgia because the warm climate reminded her of Amman. The town she moved to, Decatur, was just down the road from another named Clarkston. Since the 1980's, Clarkston, Georgia had become a major hub for refugees placed by organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee, due to its proximity to Atlanta. Luma soon stumbled upon the refugee population and began running a soccer program for the young boys living in some of the apartment complexes in Clarkston.
By the second season, Luma had such a sizable group of boys that she split them into three teams: the Under Thirteens, the Under Fifteens, and the Under Seventeens. She ran into a series of issues finding locations for the teams to practice largely due to stigma and the bureaucracy of the Board of the Clarkston Community Center and City Council. Issues also arose between Luma and some players due to her strict rules, especially the rule that players must have short hair.
Ultimately, the Fugees became an incredibly important support system for many of the young boys on the teams. Not only this, but the teams were very successful, especially the Under Thirteens who placed third in their division. After the publication of an article about the Fugees in the New York Times, the team received widespread attention. This brought in enough donations and volunteers that Luma was able to open Fugees Academy, a school specializing in teaching refugee children.
