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A thank you to Ki Man Kim

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The day before my family left to visit Nyumbani, the center where I practice a martial art sponsored their 10th year anniversary tournament. One of the instructors, Ki Man Kim, gave a generous gift to Nyumbani.

Ki Man has been married for less than a year, and he and his wife discussed making a contribution to Nyumbani. They decided that they would give a gift to Nyumbani based on how well he did at the tournament (1st place has a cash prize), with at least a minimum gift if he did not fare well.

Let me interject in the story to explain that this is a big tournament which required three-weekends of competition, all building up to the grand championship. I was not able to attend the final matches, and I had no foreknowledge that Ki Man intended to make a donation to Nyumbani. As I was leaving, Ki Man and his wife, Mia, approached Michele and I to give $500. This is a lot of money for newlyweds, but they both felt it was the right action. It must have bolstered his commitment in competition, as he went on to become the Grand Champion of the tournament.

By the by, if you make it to Nairobi, one of the Nyumbani children, Birgen, is sporting a Kumdo baseball cap from one of my prior tournaments.