Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Nike makes sportswear for Muslim refugees
DADAAB, Kenya, March 25 (UPI) -- Muslim girls at a refugee camp in Kenya are learning to play volleyball, wearing uniforms specially designed by Nike to meet Islamic standards.
Oliver Delarue of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees told the BBC the uniforms have been "very liberating." He described them as long pants with a top resembling a traditional jilbab, or long tunic, on top -- and said the girls chose the most traditional of the four possibilities Nike designers presented.
"It still allows them to move more freely, as they are made of a very modern type of fabric," he said.
Nike, the U.S. sportswear and shoe giant, has been working for the past four years on educational projects in the camps, which house 127,000 refugees from Somalia.
Adar Osman Horar, a female community leader in the Dadaab camp, said sports gives the girls "a break from their daily life" and encourages them to get an education.

© Copyright 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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