Bright Paths Foundation began with a soccer ball, a dusty courtyard, and a boy named Youssef.

In the summer before her junior year of high school, Carolina Abahusayn traveled to Morocco by herself for a month-long Arabic language and cultural immersion program. She expected to improve her Arabic, learn more about her heritage, and maybe collect a few interesting stories. What she didn’t expect was that a nine-year-old boy in her host family would change the way she saw the world.

Youssef didn’t speak English. Carolina’s Arabic was just starting to develop. But every afternoon after school, they played soccer. No words were needed. Just movement, laughter, and the unspoken understanding that the game itself was a kind of language. It was fun, it was freeing, and it was a connection that felt bigger than any classroom lesson.

When Carolina returned home, something stayed with her. She couldn’t stop thinking about the kids she had met, especially Youssef. They were full of energy and curiosity, but had very few resources. Even something as simple as a real soccer ball felt out of reach. Meanwhile, back home, sports equipment sat unused in garages, and playing fields were taken for granted.