JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Lebanon underwent months of Israeli bombardment before a ceasefire went into effect last month. The United Nations estimates a quarter of the population has been displaced. But in a vacant lot in the capital, Beirut, people have been gathering weekly to try to forget the conflict by playing cricket. NPR's Lauren Frayer joined them.
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UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing in non-English language)
LAUREN FRAYER, BYLINE: Indian pop blasts from the sidelines. A Sri Lankan ref tosses a coin...
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FRAYER: ...To see who'll bat first...
MCS SALGA: Either head, either number.
FRAYER: Heads and tails.
SALGA: Tails.
FRAYER: Yeah.
...And Pakistanis and Bangladeshis line up the wickets.
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FRAYER: Lebanon is a small, stratified country with a disproportionate number of migrant domestic workers, many of them from South Asia, and many of them massive cricket fans, like MCS Salga from Sri Lanka.
SALGA: We come here, only playing cricket and relax the mind. We bring tea. We eat the food.
FRAYER: What are you making?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: This is coconut roti.
FRAYER: Coconut roti?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Roti, yes.
FRAYER: Wow.
By day, Salga is a gardener for a wealthy Lebanese family. By night, he's a cricket commentator with 87,000 subscribers on YouTube.
SALGA: My heart, always cricket.
FRAYER: It's not just South Asians. There are lots of newcomers here to the sport.
ROSE MAKIPUTEEN: Even I'm not good, but I love batting (laughter). I try my best (laughter).
FRAYER: Rose Makiputeen is a Filipina housemaid, sending money home to support four kids. She works in a mansion in Lebanon's mountains. And on her day off...
MAKIPUTEEN: Only Sunday.
FRAYER: Yeah.
MAKIPUTEEN: Nothing else.
FRAYER: Yeah.
...She splurges on a taxi downhill to Beirut to play cricket.
MAKIPUTEEN: Me, all the time - I'm shouting, and I'm - yes, yes. Like, me, I'm the one who loud the voice here (laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Shouting in non-English language).
FRAYER: This potholed asphalt has become a much-needed oasis, especially amid war, for Lebanon's marginalized underclasses. It's unclear how many of them have been killed in this war. Some are undocumented. On this cricket pitch, there are Pakistani construction workers who've relinquished their passports to bosses they call master, domestic workers, whom human rights groups say suffer physical and sexual abuse, even Syrian refugees.
MOHAMMED KHIER MUHADEEN: It's like a psychologist space for us.
FRAYER: Mohammed Khier Muhadeen is a Syrian refugee turned cricket coach. Maram el-Kudur and Rasaal al-Jabr are two of his refugee students in headscarves and sweatpants.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: I'm addicted to playing cricket.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: When I started cricket, I didn't know anything. It was the first game I have played, ever because, as you know, girls can't go outside.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: It's our passion now. I can't be happier playing cricket.
FRAYER: Through cricket, they've learned English, too. The game has even brought supposed foes together. Inder Janjuwar grew up in India, now works as a deliveryman in Lebanon and had never met a Pakistani before coming here.
INDER JANJUWAR: (Laughter) Because, you know India, Pakistan - we have problems in India, politics problems.
FRAYER: Now, his cricket captain...
JANJUWAR: He's from Pakistan.
FRAYER: Yeah.
JANJUWAR: This our captain.
FRAYER: And he's giving you instructions?
JANJUWAR: Yeah.
FRAYER: And you like him?
JANJUWAR: Yeah, sure. We treat like brothers because we laugh together.
FRAYER: They laugh together. And for a few hours...
JANJUWAR: I feel free, you know? Fresh mind, enjoy - we forget the war.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: (Shouting in non-English language).
FRAYER: ...They forget about the war.
Lauren Frayer, NPR News, Beirut. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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