Rehema Kabera’s eyes light up when she talks about how she first became fascinated with Karate. Born on December 16, 1986. She has represented the country in a dozen international Karate competitions.

Today, she has a full Karate scholarship at the Kampala International University (KIU) in Uganda, and in her second year of a Bachelor of Tourism Management (BTM) course.

Before joining KIU, she had graduated from Ecole Secondaire de Hotelerie et Tourisme de Gasogi, in Gasabo District.

During S.6 vacation, KIU reached out to her as they wanted her in the varsity Karate team. "You play for them and, in exchange, they admit you. It was a fair deal. My scholarship also covers a master’s degree afterwards,” she said.

Initially, as a teen, Kabera loved playing football. But her mother was against it, she was totally against her first born daughter playing soccer and, firmly prohibited it.

In 2005, she discovered Karate, a martial art sport, in her neighborhood in Gatenga. Knowing her mother would never approve, she played secretly. 

"When my parents forced me to quit football, I was on the Kicukiro district football team. Mum would say, ‘No, you can’t play football. You are a lady.’ She loves me. She’s my mum. I quit, but I was very upset,” Kabera told Saturday Sport in an interview for this article.

"Then I heard about Karate, in Gatenga. I would secretly go to play, in the evenings and make sure I would be back in the house by 6pm before mum returned from work.”

She always washed her Karate Gi (Japanese for the karate training uniform) and hid it to dry behind their house. And whenever she got injured, she never dared reveal her pain. After playing clandestinely for three years, she made the national team in 2008.

News bulletin stuns mum

But one evening, in 2008, Kebera’s mother was stunned when she saw her daughter in a TV news bulletin, competing in a local karate championship, the annual Never Again contest, at Amahoro National Stadium. 

Kabera had in fact gone through the first round of the games. She won a gold medal in her first Kumite [fighting] match. 

During Kata (display of a set sequence of karate moves in a pre-arranged fight against imaginary opponents) competition in the same event, she won bronze.

At home, her livid mother was flabbergasted seeing her daughter momentarily hurl kicks, and dodge punches. "Mum waited to watch the next French news, just to be so certain if indeed what she had seen was true,” the 27-year old recalls.

"When I came home, she sat me down and asked... I could not tell lies any longer. I explained everything, explained to her that I never informed her because I did not want her to stop me.”

Gaining mother’s approval

Kabera says, that same year, her mother actually went to the stadium to watch her participate in another tournament in which the best players made the national team.

"She was eight months pregnant, and she later told me, that whenever I was kicked, the baby twisted in her womb. I was so small and I was playing against stronger opponents. She was scared.”

"But I won gold. And on the way home, mum was full of smiles for what I had just achieved. She said, adding that even though she was so nervous, but excited at the same time. 

"That day, I cried. I was so glad. Not because I won gold, but because mum, for the first time, approved of my playing Karate. She gave me her blessings and the approval I had long craved.”

From then on, Kabera would not fear to plainly wash and dry her Karate Gi. When she got injured, unlike before, the whole family helped.

Her first international competition was in 2009, in Kenya, in the Zone 5 championships where she won bronze. "Since I was used to winning gold, third place was frustrating and, I contemplated quitting,” she narrates.

Biggest moment

Nevertheless, Kabera’s "biggest moment” came in 2012, in Morocco. During the 14th African championships for senior Karatekas, her first time on a bigger stage, she won bronze despite nursing a knee injury. 

"I was given a pain-killing injection. In the second game, I drew against a Moroccan after coming from behind to equalize, in the second minute.”

During the subsequent World Karate Championships, in France, the Rwandan team lost, but she at least drew against an opponent from Hong Kong. 

"I was so happy because we drew, zero-zero, yet my opponent had previously played five times in the world championship.”

Gratitude

Kabera says she has her family and instructors, including national team coach, Ruslan Adamov, and the National Karate Federation (Ferwaka) technical director, Guy Didier Rurangayire, to thank for all achievements. 

"People in Ferwaka helped a lot. Whenever I didn’t have money for transport, or faced other challenges, they were always there for me.”