United star’s mission to save lives
TOON STAR ATSU THINKS OF SAVING LIVES AS WELL AS SAVING CLUB’S TOP-FLIGHT STATUS
CHRISTIAN Atsu always stops to talk to the media after playing for Newcastle United – win, lose or draw in rain, hail or shine.
However, football results seem trivial today. We are sitting in the media room at the back of the club’s Benton base which is usually the scene for players and staff to talk about anything from takeovers, transfers and injuries to knocks, offside debates, poor form or the brilliant atmosphere at St James’ Park.
However, the subjects are much more serious this time for Atsu and the game which means so much to so many people appears to pale into insignificance as the 26-year-old looks back on his life.
Atsu knows it could have been very different for him had it not been for the ‘Grace of God.’
While the former Chelsea winger is deemed a hero to 50,000 Geordie fans every other week, the wholehearted player is eager to make his status count beyond the football field.
Today he is not pulling on the famous black and white shirt and playing for the famous club crest.
Insted, he wearing an orange T-shirt bearing the name of the charity Arms Around The Child.
He is not playing for Premier League points, he is looking to save lives and offer support, love, protection and education to those back in Accra.
It goes beyond just hunger and a lack of schools.
Atsu is unable to fight back the tears as he talks about the way homeless children in Ghana are orphaned, abused, affected by HIV/ AIDS and in danger of being trafficked or sold.
It is why Atsu has decided to host a gala dinner at the Gateshead Hilton Hotel as he tries to raise more awareness of the sickening conditions for vulnerable children in his home country.
Atsu is one of the most polite and friendly members of Rafa Benitez’s squad but, as he tries to get his message across, the tears roll down a face clearly etched in pain at the thought of his homeland.
The Ada Foah-born player said: “Have you been to Ghana? Life is hard enough there - when my car stops at the traffic lights children beg for money.
“They don’t have a house or anywhere to go. They can end up in bad situations. We have to build a better world for them.
“As a grown-up guy I managed to get so far but it is not always like that for kids in Ghana.
“Arms Around the Child is a charity we have and I am an ambassador for it and I am doing my best to raise money. We are going to have a gala dinner in at the Hilton Gateshead Hotel.
“This will help the children to have a better education and provide food for them. For me it is a privilege to help the charity and to use my image to promote it.
“I love to do charity work and love to get people around me to help.
“We have to raise awareness of the way the people of Ghana live their
life and the suffering they go through.
“I would prefer not to see them like that but I must do my best to help them become better people and help their future.”
This weekend Atsu will step out to take on Manchester United in front of a global audience, the game beamed out from St James’ Park around the world.
In the cash-laden Premier League too many people take things for granted - but not Christian Atsu.
He added: “It is hard because in Africa and Ghana I have seen a lot of people who don’t eat and don’t have money for food.
“They are homeless and some of them are orphans.
“They have to live on the street and try to sell things. It is difficult to watch children like this.
“When I drive past them at traffic lights they come to the car and beg for money. It is hard for me to take in but that is why I am trying to do my best to help all of the kids. It is a good thing for Europeans to go to Africa and see what life is like there.
“I know it is hard here but it is more difficult there.”
Atsu’s own story is an extremely harrowing tale in itself and he suggests football saved him from a life of poverty.
His father died in hospital in Ghana because his family could not afford to pay the medical bills to save him. Unfortunately, it all came before Atsu was on the way to becoming a Premier League star.
Talking about his background, Atsu said: “I was born in a village in Accra and my parents were farmers. “My father was also a fisherman. We grew crops like tomatoes and corn and we also went fishing. It was difficult.
“One of my brothers moved to the city in Accra and then he sent for us to go to school and I went with my twin sister. I was seven then and had not been to school.
“It was hard because my brother was working and sometimes it was difficult for us to eat. There was just one room for us all to sleep in but it was the sitting room where the TV is.
“My mother joined us but had to leave because things became hard and we could not pay the rent. My mother had to go back to the village.”
Atsu’s life turned around when spotted by Feyenoord’s feeder Academy club Fetteh in Ghana. He went on: “I was lucky because I had the talent to go to Feyenoord Academy. “Thanks to God’s grace I was able to have an education and was able to eat well. I trained with Feyenoord and was able to develop my talent.
“My father then became sick but my brothers did not tell me because they did not want to disturb me.
“A few weeks later they told my father passed away. They took him to hospital but they did not have the money to pay.
“What would I have done without Feyenoord? Honestly, I would be playing in the Ghana Premier League. I did not want to play in it because when you are injured that is the end of your life and nobody looks after you. I knew I had to find a way to travel to Europe.”
After impressing the West African Football Academy, Atsu was signed by FC Porto before moving to Chelsea, where he was loaned out to Bournemouth, Everton, Vitesse, and Malaga before finally making Newcastle his next permanent club.
Looking back on his remarkable journey. Atsu said: “I have friends I grew up with and know we from the start. They keep telling me that I made it because of my belief in God.
“Every time when they call me they tell me I did everything in order to survive.
“I travelled to Europe and I built my own house.”
Atsu’s next aim is to get as many Newcastle fans as possible to contribute to his gala charity night next month, knowing every pound spent will save lives.
He added: “I believe they will help. A lot of people don’t know what is happening in Africa or around the world. I believe there is good in all people.”
When my car stops at the traffic lights children beg for money. We have to build a better world for them