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2011 Graduate Working with Youth in Ghana
By Christina Calloway -Portales News-Tribune
Eastern New Mexico University alumni Andrea Elizondo (B.S. 2011) visited Ghana from February through April to work with City of Refuge Ministries, a non-profit organization that works with trafficked and abandoned youth.
The El Paso native majored in physical education with a minor in athletic training and played soccer for ENMU. The ENMU soccer team sent soccer balls with Elizondo to give to the children.
City of Refuge Children’s Village is a place for trafficked and abandoned children. City of Refuge has also established a school, “Faith Roots International Academy.” Johnbull and Stacy Omorefe are the founders of this organization. The organization rescues children who are slave laborers in the fishing villages of the Volta region of Ghana. These children, some as young as 6 years old, are sold by their families sometimes for only $20 so that they can work and pay off the debts of their families. The children are worked for about 14 hours a day with only one meal a day, and many die by drowning or abuse from the fishermen.
Andrea’s role in Ghana is teaching health and physical education classes along with teaching the teachers how to run physical education classes. She also helps in the classrooms during school and helps with homework after school, which has really helped her build relationships with the kids. She has also been able to do some coaching with the school soccer team and personal training with some of the staff.
Andrea absolutely loves working with the children. She said, “I loved them before I came and now that I know them I love them even more. I am closer to the children who live in the children’s home since they live about 100 feet away from where I stay. These children are so amazing. They are so very thankful for all they have, which, to most, is not very much. Most of their stories are sad, and I cannot imagine going through some of the things they have, even at my age. Yet through all their hardship, they are still seeking God. Some want to be doctors, pastors and professional soccer players. They are truly inspiring and have bright futures.”
“After being here, I have seen that all things truly are possible with God, so my dream is to have a nonprofit organization called Goals for God that is a soccer and Bible camp for children. How and when this will happen I don’t know, but I do know that God does know and he will open the doors.”
Andrea hopes that by connecting ENMU to City of Refuge, it will give people an awareness of what is going on with child trafficking and also hopefully give them a heart for children in need around the world.
