“I enjoy Taekwondo training doing Poomsae and Kyorugi. The trainings are sometimes hard but worth it. Most importantly the coaches tell us that we have to train hard to win and be the best. We have attended gradings and I currently hold a green belt. I cannot wait to obtain my blackbelt. My proudest moment in Taekwondo was when Master Sizwe took us to Manzini to participate in the Next Generation Taekwondo Championship on July 2, 2022.
It was our first time going to a major event and we were so excited to be amongst so many athletes from different countries and to join the other teammates from the other branches of the Next Generation Taekwondo Academy. l was so excited and so scared when it was my turn to fight that my heart almost stopped, but my coach and my friends gave me huge courage. They made me believe I could do well and win.
I won the first round. In the second round, I fought a very tough opponent and I gave it my best. My teammates were strongly cheering for me to soldier on. Even though I lost the fight eventually, I was so happy to have had the chance to reach the finals in my first tournament. I didn’t care that I had lost, I fought hard and was only 4 points short of winning the match.
I also took part in Poomsae where I excelled and got to the number 1 position, much to my surprise because I didn’t think I would win at all. I won two medals and a trophy on the day, I got a gold medal for the Poomsae, a silver medal for coming second in fighting and finally a trophy for the best Poomse female junior. l was on “cloud nin”, for the first time I got a trophy in life, something I had never imagined myself getting. My parents were so happy, we cried because of joy when I got the trophy.
My teammates were singing and dancing in joy. It was a moment I will forever cherish. I will never forget that day and from then on I told myself that I want to work hard and be the best female junior in Taekwondo in the world. I believe with more support from the World Taekwondo and Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation that Master Sizwe always tells us about, we can be the strongest refugee team in the world and can one day hoist the Eswatini flag high. It would also be great to hoist our mother countries’ flags too to give hope to those who are still struggling with wars and famine.
We were very much inspired by the visit from Dr Richard and the words he said to us keep ringing in my mind. They are a guiding light as I go about my daily life and I thank God for a man like him. We wish he can visit us regularly.
As a team, we wish to have uniforms and a nice training hall like we see on the internet. Master Sizwe gifted the first 7 of us to grade with his uniforms but everyone wants to have a uniform to look good and feel more complete as Taekwondo people. More of us have graded now and with each event, the number of members of the team grows again. Many had stopped training because of school instabilities on the timetables but more are coming back now.
