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Lee Lawler (@NewcastleFansTV)

Christian Atsu is raising money for children back in Ghana


“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 nowhere 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’s 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’re going to have a gala dinner in at the Hilton Gateshead Hotel. This will help the children to get 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.

“It’s 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’re homeless and some of them are orphans. They have to live on the street and try to sell things. It’s hard and 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’s 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.

“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 hadn’t 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 but it was the sitting room where the TV is. My mother joined us but had to leave because things became hard and we couldn’t pay the rent. My mother had to go back to the village.

“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 the Feyenoord and was able to develop my talent. My father then became sick but my brothers didn’t tell me because they didn’t want to disturb me. A few weeks later they told my father passed away. They took him to hospital but they didn’t have the money to pay. What would I have done without Feyenoord? Honestly I would be playing in the Ghana Premier League. I didn’t want to play in it because when you get 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.”

You can buy tickets for the event at: https://theblackstargala.eventbrite.co.uk

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