On 2 May 2014, my family moved from Zimbabwe to Newcastle. Before moving to Newcastle i had lived my whole life as a refugee in Tongogara refugee camp. My parents were both unemployed and trying to provide for 6 children, they had to make some sacrifices to keep us off the streets put clothes on our backs and food in our stomachs. When we were accepted by the Australian Resettlement program after being declined twice was the happiest day of my life because that meant that we were guaranteed a better life in our new home Australia. I cant emphasise how lucky we were since most family's were sent back to the country they fled most of which died on arrival due to how war torn Africa was at that time. When we arrived in Australia I loved it here but however I couldn’t speak any English at all which meant that communicating with students, teachers and applying for part time jobs was extremely difficult. With the help of my high school teachers at San Clemente Mayfield I worked hard and within two years I could hold a conversation. I’m extremely grateful to them because knowing English opened up a lot of opportunities that I would otherwise miss out on. At the moment I am currently studying for my HSC in year 12 at SFX as well as training for athletics and work as a football coach for kids, I work 2 days a week and train 3 days per week. My father works as a janitor at the Matter Hospital and my mother stays at home to look after my little brothers and sister, were a family of 10 and although we have been through a lot we manage to find comforts and happiness in each other thanks to not having to worry about our safety.
My favourite events are the 100m and 200m and at 2018 NSW All schools, I gained the bronze medal in the 200m, with a time of 22.27sec.The winner Keegan Bell clocked 21.86sec and went on the represent Australia at the Youth Commonwealth Games.
Kirily, on the day of my race, it was very hot and humid and I had on my full length skins. If only I had on cooler gear, I think I would’ve been a lot closer to Keegan.
In the 100m on the next day, I ran 11.6sec in the heats and got 11.65sec in the final for fourth. The times that the top 3 got was 11.45, 11.62 and 11.62.
The top 2 placings in both of these events went onto Australian All schools in Cairns.
This is my final year at High School and I really want to do well, for my family and myself.
Coach Pete believes that I have the right genetics and attitude to one day go to the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and the Olympics in Paris 2024.
Representing my new home would be a dream come true.
