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The Moses
Foundation
The Success Story of Manzini Athletic
Club, Swaziland
Where
hope would otherwise become hopelessness, it becomes faith. ~Robert Brault
What a fantastic day was had by all the team here at The Moses Foundation on Tuesday morning the 27th of
August 2013 , as we were presented with a once in a life time opportunity to meet the coaches and the athletes from The Manzini Athletic Club (MAC) who were on a visit
to the green isles for a number of days to stay with the founder of the Manzini
Athletic Club Father Martin McCormack.
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Founder of
(MAC) Fr Martin McCormack, Tshidi Mdluling, Mcebo Dlundlu and Head Coach
of the (MAC) Muzi Mabuza- Ballydesmond GAA club sponsored
tracsuits and sports bags for the athletes on their recent visit. Fr Martin
hails from the village.
Muzi Mabuza the Swaziland National Athletic coach and
Fr Martin McCormack, a Salesian priest from Ballydesmond, set up Manzini
athletic club back in 2008. The club works alongside the poorer children most
of who are orphaned and have been left with either one or no parents but have
the drive and potential to succeed through knowledge, education and hard work.
‘’All our athletes come from extremely poor
backgrounds and the club along with the Moses Foundation help contribute to
school fees and clothing in most cases.’’
Father Martin
McCormack has dedicated many years of his life working with the poorest
children in Swaziland and encouraging the positive attitudes and drive in all
his athletes. Throughout his years in Swaziland he has covered over 60 schools
and his never ending work has reached out to over 8000 orphans.
Father Martin McCormack will now focus on his position
in the Salesian parish in Castletroy where he will work in leadership
development training and as curate in the parish . He will continue to support
the club and work in Swaziland..
’’ As you can imagine finding food and clothing is a
never ending task but with the support and thanks to the Irish people and The
Moses Foundation hundreds of children have gone to school because of their
generosity’’.
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Founder of the Moses Foundation Donal Herlihy being presented with the London Olympics 2012 official Swaziland teams tracksuit by Head Coach of Manzini Athletic Club Muzi Mabuza , Mcebo Dlundlu, &
Tshidi Mdluling.
Manzini Athletic Club has given its athletes a huge
amount of independence and opportunities that would otherwise have never been
possible. One of the athletes who spent some time with us on Tuesday is Mcebo
Dludlu who received an eye operation with the generosity of the Moses
Foundation who before that was otherwise blind and has gone on to win two gold
medals while running for the visually impaired men’s 100m and 200min Lusaka
last year. Mcebo will now take part in the upcoming Paralympics to be held in
Brazil in 2016.
Another successful athlete derived from the Manzini
Athletic club who was unfortunately not with us on the day is Phumlile Ndinisa.
Phumlile escaped her captivity from child traffickers at the age of 6 by jumping from a moving vehicle and this
resulted in huge injuries and severe damage to her hearing. With the support
and encouragement from the (MAC) Phumile has gone on to take part part in the 2012 London Olympic Games and has been awarded a scholarship by the
International Athletics Association to train in the Mauritius for the upcoming
2016 Olympic Games.
The stories and successes of this club are beyond
imaginable and it is growing each year with more and more talented athletes. To
help train these athletes the club needs to respond with coaches and one of the
newest members to the team is Tshidi Mdluli., who has spent the last 6 years in
college in Cuba with the help and support of Fr Martin McCormack and the Moses Foundation
to receive her degree through both Spanish and English as a qualified
professional fitness coach.
The
Moses Foundation Charity Run
We are always on the lookout for sponsors and
opportunities to help with the Moses Foundation funding. We will be launching a
Moses Foundation Run before Christmas and would appreciate any of the Running
clubs to facilitate and offer one of their local 5kms runs between now and
Christmas to be in aid of The Moses
Foundation.
If clubs could contact The Moses Foundation
Fundraising Depaertment; Emer O’ Callaghan 086 8422817 or email emerthemosesfoundation@gmail.com
and a marketing package including a tshirt for each participant will be posted
out in aid of the event. www.themosesfounation.com
/twitter: moses_2003 and facebook: themosesfoundation
Mcebo Dlundlu,
Tshidi Mdluling and Head Coach of the Manzini Athletic Club Muzi Mabuza on their
recent trip to Ireland
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