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‘Every day since I came to Sweden feels like a dream’: From Gaza to Gothenburg through parkour

A year ago Ahmad Matar had never left the 365 square kilometres of Gaza in his life. Now, he's in Sweden making a living from his passion, parkour. Matar spoke to The Local about freedom, training through injuries, and why it's important to get a flip from eight metres right first time.

Published: 9 April 2018 06:59 CEST
'Every day since I came to Sweden feels like a dream': From Gaza to Gothenburg through parkour
Ahmad Matar doing parkour in Sweden. Photo: Nicola Molly McQuistion

Matar is in the middle of a parkour event in his new home Gothenburg when The Local calls. It's rare that a day goes by without him training – so high are the demands put on his body.

“You have to keep practicing all the time, otherwise you lose your conditioning. Your body can't pull it off. I’m always training, every day. If I have to stop for two weeks or so because of an injury to my foot for example I'll just do training that doesn't involve my feet. I never stop,” he explained.

Parkour has completely transformed the 22-year-old's life. He first discovered the free-running sport back in 2005 and hasn't looked back since.

“I started parkour in 2005 back in Gaza with a team called PK Gaza. We created a small group, training outside in the streets. We didn't have a gym, so we started to develop ourselves by watching videos on the internet and being inspired by them.”

The realities of living in Gaza meant an unorthodox approach to learning for the youngsters – there were no teachers to provide tips and certainly no comfortable crash mats to land on. Matar adapted by using the tricky environment to his advantage.

“We were training outside in public places. There's so much rubble there. We wanted to show we could jump over that, over any problem in our life. Over a destroyed building. We made so many videos of us jumping over buildings that had been destroyed, to show that nothing could stop us, parkour has no limits. That was our idea,” he recalled.

“With parkour you feel like you're flying, and even in Gaza you forget everything. You're just thinking about parkour: how to do a trick, how to do a jump. I started dreaming about parkour. It took over, it changed my whole life. If there was something bad happening around me I just thought about the jump I wanted to do – it changed my mind and my life.”


Doing parkour in Gaza. Photo: Ruben Hamelink

Even if Matar and his friends couldn't physically leave Gaza, the internet meant they could share their work with the world. Eventually hype started to build:

“We tried to show people through our videos both what we could do, and what was going on in Gaza. How it’s not just war and a bad situation, there's another side and there are people having fun at the same time.”

“People started to hear about us through our videos. So we started to get invitations for international workshops, parkour competitions and events. I was invited to come to Sweden several times, and I kept trying but it was really difficult to get a visa,” he added.

For years the parkour fanatic tried to get a visa to leave Gaza, and in 2017 he finally succeeded. There was just one other problem to get over: if the border between Gaza and Egypt was closed during the time his visa was valid for, he still wouldn't be able to leave.

“The border crossing was worrying – I had to travel from Egypt, but the crossing is often closed. I got lucky that the timing of getting the visa coincided with being able to travel through there, it was pure luck for me.”

When Matar finally made it to Sweden via Egypt the whole world opened up for him in an instant.

“I still wonder if I'm really alive because I can’t believe what’s going on around me. Everything changed so suddenly after only three days of traveling. I'm happy now, I’m always happy. I don’t care about other things and just do what I like to do. It's a very different feeling from before. Every day since I came to Sweden feels like a dream.”


Photo: Mohammed Alkhatib

The Palestinian knew he didn't want to go back to Gaza as his career aspirations had little hope there, and getting work as a parkour instructor made staying in Sweden a reality. Sponsorships have since followed, meaning he now makes his living entirely from parkour.

“I had come to Sweden to take part in a competition I was invited for and decided I wanted to stay. I asked my friends to help me find the best way because I didn't want to go back to that situation. Even if it means losing the chance to be with my family, because there's no future for me in Gaza. There's nothing for me to do there. I've worked hard to become as good as possible in parkour, but there’s nothing in Gaza: no one cares about parkour, no one can sponsor me there,” he said.

“So I started to run parkour workshops in different cities in Sweden. I coach so many kids who are interested in learning, including in Gothenburg, and I also take part in competitions. Sponsorships help pay for the travel. Volvo have made commercials with me, Red Bull too. We've been paid to do videos so that's a way to make money.”

Apart from getting paid for his work, one of the other big differences is that Sweden provides a controlled environment to train in.

“People care about parkour in Sweden. We got so many injuries trying to develop in Gaza because there was no safety. We tried our tricks outside the whole time, whereas here in Sweden you try what you want inside the gym, and you have a mat so you don't hurt yourself when you land. You train on it until you're able to do it outside. In Gaza you couldn’t so you got injured all the time, and you just have to keep working through those injuries. That was how we developed. Nothing came the first time, but we always managed eventually,” he detailed.

Matar is constantly making new videos, but an old clip remains one of his most popular, as it includes him flipping from a terrifying height of eight metres. Asked by The Local how many times he had to practice it, the athlete laughs at the naivety of the question:

“You have to get those high flips right first time! You have to be ready for it – I never do something I don't think I'm ready for outside, so I don’t hurt myself. I have that experience and know my limits. I’ve been training more than 13 years and I'm only 22 years old. That's a long time, most of my life has been spent on parkour. I've done so many crazy things – people ask how I'm still alive.”

As an instructor he now has the opportunity to pass down his experience to new generations of aspiring athletes. That process has also encouraged him to keep learning and pushing himself.

“Teaching isn't difficult for me as I have the experience from when I was a kid, coaching myself without a trainer. So I know what the kids can do, and I can pass it on to help them do stuff without hurting themselves. They learn so quickly though. Things that took me five years to do they do in one month, it's crazy. I'm so happy for them.”

Another benefit is that the close-knit community of parkour athletes has made it easier for him to make friends in notoriously cold Sweden.

“The parkour community is very close so when you do it you make a lot of friends. If you're a pro people want to get to know you, and if you're a good person that helps. We regularly put on parkour events in Swedish cities so people can come and meet us and train with us.”

Matar has big plans for the future, including producing merchandise for his team.

“If you're wearing someone's shirt you can send them videos and try to get a sponsorship, and earn money to develop while they at the same time get material to use on social media. But you can also make your own clothing brand and sell it online. If you're a pro athlete people will usually want to buy it,” he explained.

“That's what I hope to do, make merchandise for my team and sell it. A lot of people have asked about it, and it would help the team.”

A further plan is to give something back to Gaza by opening a gym there and providing the facilities he never had.

“One day I want to go back and open a parkour gym for my team there. I've already started to think about when that could happen. We could make the gym right now but people wouldn't have the money to do it, so we need to be able to make it free. I need to find a volunteer trainer to teach parkour, all of that is connected.”

While his new life is exciting and he's certain he wants to stay in Sweden to keep developing, the one clear downside to the move is leaving behind family and friends behind.

“Family is so important back home, we're all very close, so that's something I want back. But it's hard, I don't think about going back to Gaza at the moment because of the bad situation. I don't want to be somewhere where I can't do anything. If you want to develop as a person, you can't do that there, because no one can help you and there's no money for it. Everything is difficult.”


Photo: Mohammed Aljakhbir

Matar tries to stay positive however, convinced that there are plenty more twists to come along the road.

“In Sweden I can work, I can train in a safe place, I can travel without problems and I'm free. In Gaza there was a border closing everything around me. I can't see my family at the moment, but it's not impossible for me to see them at some point. I always say that nothing is impossible,” he concluded.

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READER INSIGHTS

How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who’ve been there, done that

The Swedish job market poses unique challenges for newcomers. The Local's readers share their best tips for cracking the career code.

Published: 10 April 2024 11:32 CEST
Updated: 13 April 2024 15:50 CEST
How to find a job in Sweden: Five tips from those who've been there, done that

Network, network, network!

A statistic that often gets tossed around is that seven out of ten jobs in Sweden are obtained through personal connections, and there’s no doubt that a good network is crucial to your job hunt, making the labour market extra challenging for newcomers to the country.

In fact, networking was the main tip mentioned by The Local’s readers.

“The job market is quite hot in Sweden, and talent is in short supply. People hiring do not have a lot of time to find the right talent, and tips from friends, colleagues and former colleagues are the way to first, find out organisations are hiring, and secondly, get your CV on the short list,” said Kyle, a Canadian reader who works in innovation management in Gothenburg.

“If you are going for a major employer like Volvo, network gets you in the door, as HR does not have much to do with hiring… the hiring managers do all of it and have no time, due to the insane number of consensus meetings. If you are looking for smaller organisations, they have even less time to find people, and networking is their primary way to find talent,” he added.

NETWORKING IN SWEDEN:

Some of the networking tips readers mentioned were going to job fairs, getting an internship to help you establish connections in your preferred field, joining clubs (this could be anything from your local gardening association to meetups for coders, but focus on clubs that may be popular among people working in your chosen field), and drawing on your organic network of friends, neighbours and others.

Don’t neglect the groundwork

The saying “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is getting worn out (and people may look at you funny if you turn up to interviews in a Batman suit), but there’s truth to the notion of making sure you know what you want – and preparing for it.

In other words, don’t wait for a job ad to appear before you start to customise your CV and figure out what skill set you need. Create your CV now so that you’re ready to tweak it to your dream job – you could even have a general look at job ads in your field to see what requirements are needed. And don’t forget to spruce up your LinkedIn profile so that it fits with your career goals.

“I believe that several factors contribute to successfully landing a desirable job in Sweden. It’s essential to prepare to meet the requirements beyond just having a university degree. Many individuals realise these requirements only after completing their studies when they start searching for a job, which can be too late,” said Adnan Aslam from Pakistan, who works as a food inspector.

“I recommend identifying the job advertisements for positions you aspire to hold in the future and then preparing for those requirements during your studies. For me, acquiring a basic level of proficiency in the Swedish language and obtaining a Swedish driving licence were crucial. I pursued these goals during my studies and was able to secure a desirable job before graduating,” he added.

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Felipe Cabral even has a GPT assistant trained on his own CVs and old cover letters, and said the set-up only takes ten minutes if you already have your documents. “With that in place, you can give instructions like: Read this job description and create a tailored version of my CV and letter for it. (…) Remember to always review and ask it not to create data aside from your documents.”

Be flexible and ready to adapt

Moving to a new place inevitably means having to learn not just the practicalities such as how to write a CV or which websites to use to look for job openings, but also learning how to navigate a new culture with all its unspoken expectations.

Swedish workplaces are generally less hierarchical than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want whenever you want without anyone raising an eyebrow. Swedes are usually direct, but be careful of being too abrasive or boastful: raising your voice, even during a spirited argument, or banging your own drum to show off your skills may not go down well.

“Talk, deliberate, complain like a Swede and you’ll come across like you know what the job entails, so your trustworthiness increases,” said an Indian data analyst who preferred to remain anonymous.

“Office politics are just as strong in Sweden as anywhere else. The flat hierarchy is deceiving as social hierarchy is enforced quite a bit in that lack of formal hierarchy. Take your time in learning these dynamics wherever you work before revealing your talent and capabilities. Expect those internal politics to happen, and they won’t hurt so much when they do,” said Kyle, the Canadian reader in Gothenburg.

This article about Swedish office politics may be useful.

Stay true to yourself

Adapting to your surroundings is one thing. Completely changing who you are is another.

For one thing, your happiness is as important as your career progression, and for another, your foreignness need not be an impediment: it’s also a skill that sets you apart from the rest. It means you have unique experience, and also, in the right setting, provides an opportunity to sometimes violate those social rules we mentioned above, because people assume you will, anyway.

“Trust is key. Build trust in your network, work with integrity. It’s OK to violate jantelagen if you are maintaining integrity. Sometimes your outsider and more honest/open opinion will burn bridges, especially those that may feel threatened by talent. But it will build trust with other colleagues who see it as brave and more trustworthy to work with,” said Kyle from Canada.

Hunker down for the long haul

We don’t want to scare you, because there are plenty of examples of people who quickly find their dream job in Sweden and settle into their new workplace, enjoying perks such as long summer holidays, generous parental leave and the famous work-life balance.

But if you do find it tougher than you expected: know that you’re not alone.

Several readers who responded to the survey said they were still trying to find a job in Sweden.

“I found jobs all over Europe but not here. They say they have a lack of experienced senior engineers but the don’t seem to be doing much to solve this,” said a Brazilian in Gothenburg.

A reader from Bangladesh said she was “at a loss” as to how to make a career change from her current AI role in Stockholm, despite many years of experience as an IT project manager.

“Over the past 18 months, I’ve submitted over 600 applications to various organisations. Unfortunately, despite being overqualified for some positions, I’ve faced rejections at every turn, from both large and small companies. The job market here, especially for foreign-born women, feels overwhelmingly challenging,” she said, adding that the struggle had impacted her mental health.

The Local has on several occasions reported on foreign residents’ struggle to get a foot on the Swedish job ladder, with many facing hurdles such as employers’ unfamiliarity with international degrees, discrimination, or a lack of network that can provide paths into a company.

So during the job hunt, don’t forget to care for yourself. Share your concerns with fellow job-seekers, ask for help and join networking groups – this is good not just for creating new contacts, but also in terms of your social well-being and meeting people who are in a similar situation.

And finally, as one British reader in Stockholm advised, keep looking: “Be open-minded with the opportunities that present themselves. It isn’t an easy market to enter and doesn’t feel inclusive.” But he added, “don’t give up”.

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