In 2007, Tara Engelberg and Asima Farooq both moved with their families to the city of Memphis. When their paths crossed four years later at a birthday party for another Lausanne student, they met for the first time. The meeting and the friendship that grew out of it changed both of their lives. “Her energy was great and so positive,” said Tara, mother of Mia ’24 and Charlie Engelberg ’25. “I am always attracted to that.” “We knew we would be friends almost immediately because we were both talking just as fast and bounced around from topic to topic,” Asima, mother of Ibrahim ’20, Hana ’23 and Haris Farooq ’25, added with a smile. While parents becoming friends through their childrens’ school is common, it is the backgrounds from which these two come that make this friendship unique. Tara is a self-described “Jewish girl from New York raised in a very liberal family” while Asima paints her upbringing as “a Muslim-Indian girl from Chicago with very strict parents.” Asima began taking the spin class Tara teaches and they began meeting for lunch on a regular basis. As their friendship grew, Tara got Asima involved more in the Lausanne community through Lausanne Parent Connections.
“I had been a Lausanne parent for four years before Tara’s family came to the school and had never volunteered,” said Asima. “But soon after we became friends, she encouraged me to start coming to the parent meetings and since that first time, we have both worked on many projects together for the school.” Soon the friendship made the two inseparable, and in April of 2015 when Tara was diagnosed with breast cancer, Asima was with her every step of the way. “She was my rock,” said Tara. “She went with me to every single doctor appointment and even shaved my head for me when my hair began to fall out. I have never had a friend like her before.” “Our backgrounds are so unbelievably different,” stated Asima. “We would never be friends if it weren’t for Lausanne, we wouldn’t have met otherwise. All of the friends I had before we came to Lausanne were the same ethnic and religious background as me. But, it’s because of the diverse environment at Lausanne that leads to these other friendships.”
“On paper, our friendship doesn’t make sense,” added Tara with a laugh. “Match.com would never have matched us up!” Through these two Lausanne moms, their children and husbands have all become friends. The families now vacation together, go to religious lectures together and even invite each other into their homes on holidays to experience different traditions. “I love that our children openly discuss their religions with each other,” said Asima. “They are so blessed to have this opportunity because of Lausanne and have a greater understanding that people are different, and that’s ok.” “Our kids are now more knowledgeable about the world because they have people in their lives they are close to from opposite backgrounds,” Tara reflected. “The Lausanne family has produced a new family, and for that we are forever grateful.” It’s The Lausanne Way.
The Engelberg and Farooq families. Seated from left to right: Mia Engelberg ’24, Hana Farooq ’23, Ibrahim Farooq ’20, Haris Farooq ’25 and Charlie Engelberg ’25 Standing from left to right: Jeff and Tara Engelberg with Asima and Farees Farooq
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