Taekwondo
Loading Day 2009
LSU Taekwon-do their bit for charity
Saturday 14th March saw Loughborough Taekwon-do giving a helping hand to Derbyshire charity, the Children of Honduras Trust. The event was the annual “loading day”, where vital aid for schools, hospitals and orphanages is loaded onto four forty-foot lorry containers, which is finally shipped to Central America.
The CH Trust celebrated its 35th year of sending supplies to the poorest country of Central America, on a day surrounded by media attention and with distinguished visitors, the Mayor of Erewash, Cllr Barbara Harrison and the Honduran Ambassador to the UK, Ivan Romero-Martinez.
Honduras was one of the most severely affected countries hit by Hurricane Mitch back in 1998, killing over 9,000, and with just as many missing. The hurricane destroyed key infrastructures, and its legacy is still felt today, with some of the most basic services, such as health and education unavailable to the poorest.
Nearly 40 members of the club helped to stock the containers with food, water filters, clothes, shoes, toys, toiletries and even kitchen sinks! for more than 8,000 children across the country. As well as appearing on Central News and in most of the local newspapers, the club enjoyed a good workout, helping to lift heavy boxes and barrels onto the containers (this didn’t do them any harm in training for the next competition!).
Two of our own members will be heading to Honduras themselves this summer – former student Matt Smith and current postgraduate, Dani Gent will be teaching in schools in three deprived rural communities of central Honduras, where some of the schools do not even have electricity or running water. The pair have a series of projects planned with the schools, including sport days and community arts projects.
Loughborough Taekwon-do is hoping to raise funds for the CH Trust over the coming months, so keep an eye out for events, first off will be a “breakathon” planned for early May.
- D.Gent -