From There To Here
Roman Abasy · 32 min
A former Afghan Taekwondo champion who fled the Taliban reveals how sport literally saved his life twice — and how he now uses it to rebuild the lives of thousands of refugees in Western Sydney.
Support services
You don't have to be in crisis to call.
Roman Abasy represented Afghanistan in 35 international taekwondo championships and won five international medals. Beyond sport, he founded a non-profit organisation supporting women and girls in Afghanistan, running campaigns to convince families, especially fathers, about the benefits of sport in a country where it was banned for women. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Roman became a target because of his advocacy work and his support for Afghan security forces. The International Olympic Committee helped evacuate him to Pakistan, and he arrived in Australia in late 2022 with his family.
The first months were brutal. Roman arrived with only 10 percent English and struggled most with the language barrier when dealing with government agencies and interpreters. He credits his wife with keeping him steady through the hardest days of adjustment. To accelerate his English, he and his wife deactivated their social media and spent five or six months watching films, reading books, and speaking only English to each other. His first job in Australia was as a taekwondo instructor, where he discovered that sport needed no words, just movement and demonstration.
Today, Roman works as a resettlement coordinator, organising about 100 sport programs for over 2,000 refugees across Western Sydney. He has seen sport break down isolation in ways nothing else can. In one football program for 250 refugees from different communities, people who barely spoke in week one were taking selfies together by week ten. One refugee from Iraq arrived facing mental health challenges and isolation; after ten weeks, he asked to become an instructor and now works as a coach and referee across multiple organisations. Roman calls on organisations to provide free sport and recreation for refugees and migrants, because sport in Australia is expensive and new arrivals cannot afford it.
Every story here belongs to the person who lived it. They said yes to sharing it, and we sat with it carefully before it went up. Nothing here is exaggerated and nothing is used without permission. Read how we handle these stories ↗
Kintsugi Heroes · Registered Australian not-for-profit · kintsugiheroes.com.au ↗