KuGompo City orphanage children are having the time of their lives in Belfast, where they are visiting the Monkstown Boxing Club for 10 days as part of a boxing-influenced exchange programme.
Led by world-acclaimed boxing manager Mlandeli Tengimfene, the entourage consisting of seven delegations left for Northern Ireland on Tuesday last week to benefit from the partnership Tengimfene’s All Winners Boxing Club forged with the Belfast club eight years ago.
The programme was curated to take boxing beyond the ring and spread it to other challenges confronting communities, focusing mostly on children in orphanages.
Initiated in 2018 when Mdantsane boxer Zolani Tete was in Belfast to defend his WBO bantamweight title against Siboniso Gonya, the partnership has grown in leaps and bounds, with exchange programmes involving regular visits by both clubs between the two countries to strengthen working relations in tackling challenges such as gender-based violence, social ills and other forms of abuse among children.
Monkstown sent its delegation to KuGompo City in 2018 where they were introduced to several orphanages in the city, and Mthatha adopted by All Winners.
This led to the cultural and history exchange programmes involving children from both countries to extend the partnership beyond the ring.
Speaking from Belfast, Tengimfene said the programme had since roped in the involvement of the British Council in a quest to forge bilateral relations between the Buffalo City municipality and Belfast.
“This programme has helped children to experience cultural diversity to broaden their knowledge, and we were pleased when the British Council got involved,” he said.
Focusing on children younger than 16, the programme has helped them to acquire proper travel documents such as passports and identity documents.
“As you know, some were abandoned at a young age and no-one ever thought to ensure they had the correct documents, so we had to arrange everything for them.
“You can imagine how they felt when they stepped into an aeroplane for the first time.”
Monkstown director Paul Johnson, who led his team in its last visit to KuGompo City in 2024, expressed delight with how the programme had developed to tackle challenges confronted by orphaned children.
“We have since established a programme called ‘Breaking Silence’ with the British Council aimed at ensuring that no child is left behind, and that will help strengthen our partnership with orphanages around the world, including Buffalo City, where Mayor Princess Faku is already a big supporter,” he said.
Tengimfene said the partnership decided to use boxing as a vehicle owing to the disciplined nature of the sport.
“Some of these kids get to experience sharing training sessions with well-known boxers, influencing them to follow a career in boxing.”
WBC mini-flyweight title-bound Siyakholwa Kuse was one of the ambassadors of the programme when he was under All Winners due to his incredible story of beating drug addiction.
Daily Dispatch
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