FOR most football fans in the last 15 years, Christian Atsu was a household name before he tragically passed away in the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria a year ago, writes Vlad Andrejevic.
The former Ghana international, who started his career with Porto before moving to Chelsea in 2011, was a tricky and direct winger whose most notable club form came with Newcastle United.
However, it was arguably his performances with his national team that earned him the most recognition. During a career in which he earned 65 caps, he represented Ghana at the 2014 World Cup as well as four different Africa Cup of Nations, being named the player of the tournament in 2015 as they reached the final.
The charity’s mission statement, focuses on ‘building a better and kinder environment for children living in extreme adversity
Whilst these honourable achievements contributed to him being celebrated, what is less known about – and arguably more remarkable – was the work he did off the pitch.
Atsu was heavily involved in a variety of philanthropic projects throughout his career in his home country, none more so than with the charity Arms Around The Child.
Arms Around The Child is a non-profit organisation that, according to their mission statement, focuses on ‘building a better and kinder environment for children living in extreme adversity, orphaned, abandoned, at risk of child abuse – sexual or otherwise, trafficked or living in child-headed households.’
Stemming from the previously successful charity Keep A Child Alive, co-founder Ellie Milner formed the organisation in 2011 and started work in India, South Africa and most recently Ghana, shortly after which Astu became involved.
Ellie explained that she had met up with Atsu, who had initially wanted to set up his own foundation, to discuss working together.
“We talked about the idea of building a new school and he was so up for it,” she told The Voice. “For him the thought of doing that was just fantastic, he loved it.”
The idea for the school, which was to be built in the regional area of Senya Beraku, was formed as the previous building was being constantly demolished by floods and had no toilets or running water. Once Atsu had visited the site (and seen the valiant work of other local charities such as Becky’s Foundation offering refuge to at-risk children), he decided to contribute, and work was immediately commissioned.
The process was gruelling, as land had to be purchased from various chieftains, as well as planning permissions and access to necessary materials and workers. Nonetheless, Atsu was always on hand to offer his support and was involved in every step of the way.
“With Christian I never thought of him as being a footballer and not being able to get hold of him,” said Ellie. “He knew every step of what was going on and he would be involved in the decisions, for example when we talked about the budgets, he would say I’ll get my brother to double check all of that to make sure we get the best deals, so he was very personally involved.”
His dedicated participation exceeded just the development of the project – he really cared about the children themselves.
Ellie said that Atsu would visit very frequently, much to the delight of the kids. “Every time he went back, he used to go down there.
“He sometimes used to drive down, get one of his brothers to drive a big truck down and he’d have it full of everything; rice, toilet roll, food – it was like Father Christmas 10 times over coming down in a truck – it was brilliant.
“One day he went down there and he took all of the kids out to the local shopping mall and bought them all shoes.
He loved those kids, absolutely loved them and they looked at him as a father, a brother – he was incredible
“Other times he would kick off his shoes and play barefoot football with them (this would have been to the horror of any football club he was signed to so we never got any footage).
“When he visited the old school, he would go into each classroom and talk to the whole class and spend time answering questions, having pictures and giving motivational talks to them all.”
Unfortunately, Covid delayed the progress and left the roofs still to be completed, but at the start of this year, Christian had sent an email to Ellie that read ‘I’m going to send funds to expediate this as I’ll be visiting in June and bring all my friends for the opening.’
A few days later, the earthquake struck. However, as is often the case in times of desperation, the football world rallied together to help finish his passion project. Amongst other foundations, both Chelsea Football Club and Newcastle fans raised enough funds to finish the school, which was ultimately completed in June as Atsu had planned.
“He didn’t want it to be called the Christian Atsu School” said Ellie “He was very humble, however in these circumstances it’s difficult not to name it after him.”
Ellie’s dilemma is understandable as Atsu’s legacy on the community in Senya Beraku deserves universal recognition. His positivity and eagerness to help his own people in Ghana was extraordinary, and his hard work alongside the charity resulted in a sustainable school being built which will educate up to 200 children by 2024.
However, it is his spirit and presence that will be remembered most fondly, especially amongst the younger generation.
As Ellie poignantly said: “He loved those kids, absolutely loved them and they looked at him as a father, a brother – he was incredible.”
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