Support Issa Issaku's tuition
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Issa Issaku is a high school sophomore honor roll student-athlete from Kumasi, Ghana, residing with my wife Gale and me in Camp Springs, MD since June 2022. He is attending National Christian Academy, Fort Washington, MD. and plays varsity basketball. I am a retired US Army Master Sergeant and former high school & AAU basketball coach.
In 2019 I became involved in Issa's journey, to the USA. He communicated via Facebook and asked me to coach him virtually. I sent him YouTube tutorial videos and he rapidly improved. Issa became a basketball ambassador in Kumasi, traveling to 21 villages conducting basketball clinics and teaching reading & math.
During the peak of the pandemic, he made over 200 hand-sewn face masks for his trainees.
I helped him locate a team in Kumasi, where he excelled and was selected for the 16-year-old Ghana National Team. His selection enabled him to gain exposure to several high school scouts in the USA. He asked to live with me, however, I declined because we retired in 2021. Gale and I have hosted two international students and a foster child in the past.
Issa attended Concordia Academy in Roseville, MN, for the 2021-22 school year. Unfortunately, he endured a year of questionable mistreatment while residing with his host. We remained in contact primarily by messenger and maintained a journal history of abusive acts toward him. I reported the abuse to his school and the department of child services in March 2021. In Jun, after a flare-up between him and his coach, I flew the next day to Minnesota and intervened with the police to remove him from home. After a discussion with his parents, they authorized custody to enable me to help him locate a school in the DC/MD/VA area.
Issa's school visa requires him to enroll in the Department of Homeland Security school system, which narrowed down and limited the number of schools where he could obtain a scholarship, especially this late in the year. I utilized initial funds from my retirement to ensure he could meet the school registration deadline. We could not get a full scholarship due to time constraints at the end of the school year. We would like to raise the remaining balance to enable him to complete this school year.
Issa's father recently passed away on October 10, 2022, and he could not return home for his funeral. Issa has been resilient and continues to excel. He considers us his parents and we're providing a loving caring home. We want to ensure he gets a better opportunity to continue pursuing his academic and athletic goals. Donations will go toward his tuition at National Christian Academy for the 2022-23 school year.
We sincerely appreciate your support!
Click the link to watch his YouTube highlights.
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Organizer
Edwin Atlas
Organizer
Suitland, MD