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“They’re always by my side 24/7, and they’re always interested conventional teaching practices, she retreats, researches, and
in what I do. And I know everything I’m doing now is making returns with a more thorough understanding that her teachers
them proud.” often attribute to their own methods.
I’m intrigued to know how she went from modelling to The phrase “slowly, slowly” is used around a dozen times
taekwondo, but the path is not a straight line. The ‘Tall Girl from during our short interview. It is like a mantra that – almost
Year 12’ was also a keen basketball player after being selected counterintuitively – explains how she has been so successful at
by her school. so many different things, so quickly.
“For my height,” she says with another smile. She would love to travel beyond Korea, naming the UK,
She didn’t even know how to play at the time, but with hard Singapore “for the lights!”, Thailand and Japan “for the fashion
work, practice and research via YouTube videos and tutorials, and the culture”.
she picked up the basics in a few weeks. “I always see these places on computers and laptops and
But it was taekwondo that really captured her heart. phones… but I want to see it with my own eyes, you know? Take
Bulewa had watched the sport online and never dreamed it pictures of it all with my eyes and keep it as memories in my
was happening in Fiji, she tells me. Then one day, a group of head.”
practitioners came to her school to take a self-defence class. She loves the ocean and tells me that in her down time,
“I was so surprised and I was so happy because I thought the she loves to be in the water, especially the lagoon near her
whole group would be from Korea, but half of them were from grandmother’s house.
Fiji,” she says visibly excited by the memory. “I was like, ‘Oh my “I’m like an ocean life girl. I don’t get used to this,” she says
god, my people are taking taekwondo!’” gesturing at the concrete stadium we are sitting in.
After qualifying for the training programme with a friend – as “We snorkel on the edge of reefs, notice sharks and huge eels,
the only two who managed a high kick – she told her father on and a lot of snakes down there. We usually do it in Sigatoka,
the phone she would be home late because she was attending in Natadola, it’s the best place, it’s so beautiful! The ocean is
taekwondo class. always clear and blue.
He was not happy, but Bulewa stuck to her guns. “I want to explore what the sea life is like in other countries.”
“I knew that taekwondo had something. I had to be there. Back on land, she has more ambitions.
“I went home after training and ‘Yappa! Yappa! Yappa!’ - I got “My parents wanted me to be in the British Army, a flight
the yelling,” she goes on, still smiling. “My father asked if I was attendant, working on a cruise boat. But I didn’t want that, I was
getting paid for this sport, and I explained, ‘No, I’m paying them more into animals, because I love all creatures. There are so
for this sport.’ many animals struggling in this country, and I just want to be
“Then he sent me to my room.” there to help them.
The next day as Bulewa explained she was paying for the “So I want to study to be a veterinarian and have my own place
training with money earned from modelling and showed her for animals in need. All the stray dogs I see, I could just bring
father the taekwondo kit she had been given, his attitude began them in and help them out, and people could come in and adopt
to change. them.”
I get the sense it would be hard to argue with someone who Before we know it, it is pouring with rain and our chances at a
is so driven, creating her own opportunities and funding her own photoshoot are lost, so we agree to meet again in a few weeks.
training, despite any misgivings about the nature of the sport. By this time, she has fought in the qualifier for the Olympics,
I also consider that, as far as teenage rebellions go… it could and lost. She seems undaunted and laughs as she tells me she
be worse. was so nervous that she blanked out and her opponent “used
When she was recently selected for a scholarship to Korea, her as a punching bag!”
her family was stunned at first, and then both proud and excited. But taekwondo remains her top priority.
She’s excited too, and can’t wait, she tells me, to learn the “Yes! Yes! For myself and my country, and to make my whole
language and embrace the culture. I ask if she’s been back to family proud, that’s what I want to do! I want to bring something
YouTube to learn Korean. back. I’d like to go out to other islands and teach them what I’ve
“YouTube, and then I watch the K-dramas on Netflix,” she fires experienced."
back quick as a flash. “Slowly, slowly I am getting there with my With all she has accomplished, with the single-mindedness
understanding. But it will take time. Things take time.” and clear commitment she has already displayed, I have no
Again, I am struck by the mature and committed approach and doubt she will achieve all these things.
gentle independence Bulewa has to everything she undertakes. Slowly, slowly.
She indicates many times that when she becomes frustrated with

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