Uganda's Future Taekwondo Stars
This fund is to enable a vibrant group of very poor Ugandan teenagers (12-18 yrs) and young men and women (19-25 yrs) to get a decent education and to become Taekwondo champions under the guidance of Korean Master Lee Yong Woo who has managed to make his students (including me!) totally fall in love with the fantastic Taekwondo art at reaching as high as you can not just with your feet, but also with your spirit!
Master Lee's club has been in place since the 80's and is partnering with a charity school (St Augustine Montessori School, Kampala - https://www.facebook.com/www.mec.ac.ug/) - in order to keep underprivileged kids off the street and give them a chance at a better life through school and sports.
Among the club's ~50 young Taekwondo-kas, nearly half are potential champions but they struggle to partake in any international competitions of high level because they are too poor to afford traveling to neighboring Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania where international tournaments take place regularly, and the Ugandan government doesn't contribute a cent to Taekwondo. The club also lacks the money to pay for travel expenses and registration fees for these regional competititons as Master Lee doesn't make any Ugandan student (99% of club members) pay fees.
I have never met a group of youngsters so poor (many are orphans, some are homeless and sleep at the club) yet so eager and dedicated to learn, so supportive of each other, and so open to welcome anyone who wants to join the club. Perhaps therein lies their secret about how they got to be so good with so few means and without any outside help. Last October, we managed to raise US $200 to send 4 teenage girls and boys to the Korean Ambassador Taekwondo Cup in Nairobi, Kenya (https://www.facebook.com/events/1406727299634212/), They came back with 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals (the 2 girls on the left and the 2 boys on the right below), and this was their first international competition!
Needless to say, not only have these results boosted their self-esteem and galvanized their friends, but more importantly, it has deeply strengthen their commitment to excel in school just as they do in taekwondo. And this is what it's all about. So any donation you would want to make will go a long and sure way!
