From Bricks to Books: Fundraising for Our Education Initiative
Zion astro
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS
Eugene Harmon’s love for soccer began on the streets of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia in West Africa, where he played barefoot with his friends. Despite not having fancy gear or a well-maintained soccer field, they made do by using large rocks as goalposts and creating lines and markings out of sticks. Harmon credits the sport with teaching him the value of persistence and not giving up easily.
His dedication to the game paid off when he moved to the United States in 2009 to pursue higher education. A soccer coach at Bucks County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania recognized his talent and offered him a scholarship to join the college’s soccer program. Harmon went on to complete his associate degree in computer science in just three years.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Harmon moved to Columbus’ East Side where he now works as an IT specialist. Despite the challenges he faced growing up in Liberia, Harmon’s passion for soccer and determination to succeed has propelled him to great heights.
Be a Part of Something Great -Support our mission to promote education, gender equality, and youth development in Africa.
Imagine a world where every child has access to high-quality education, where their dreams and aspirations are not limited by their circumstances but rather empowered by them. This is the world we envision, and we need your help to make it a reality.
As a nonprofit organization operating in both the United States and Africa, we are dedicated to using sports to promote education, social awareness, gender equality, youth development, youth leadership, youth involvement, and poverty reduction in Africa. Our ultimate goal is to empower children to become leaders in their communities and break the cycle of poverty.
We have identified a critical need for education in a rural community in Africa where access to quality education is limited. To address this need, we have launched a campaign to build a school for children in this community.
In Africa, many children are denied the opportunity to learn due to poverty, lack of resources, and limited access to education. This is why we have launched a campaign to build a school for these kids, and we believe that sports can play a significant role in promoting education and empowering these children.
We all know the power of sports to bring people together, to inspire and motivate, and to teach valuable life skills such as teamwork, determination, and resilience. But sports can also be a powerful tool to promote education. By building a school that incorporates sports into its curriculum, we can provide a safe and supportive environment for children to learn, play, and grow.
We want to give these children the opportunity to learn not just from textbooks but from the experiences and lessons that sports provide. We want to teach them the importance of setting goals, working hard, and never giving up, not just on the field but in their studies and in their lives.
By supporting our campaign to build a school for these kids, you are not just giving them a place to learn but also giving them hope for a brighter future. You are giving them the chance to reach their full potential, break the cycle of poverty, and create a better life for themselves and their families.
Your financial contribution is not the only way you can help. Another effective way to support our cause is by spreading the word about our campaign and sharing it with your friends, family, and social networks.
Here are a few ways you can help:
• Share our campaign on social media and encourage others to donate or share it as well.
• Reach out to your network and ask if they would be interested in supporting our cause.
• Organize a fundraising event or campaign to raise funds for the project.
• Volunteer your time or skills to support our nonprofit organization and other initiatives we are involved in.
We know that building a school is not an easy task, but with your help, we can make it happen. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a difference. Together, we can build a school that will change the lives of these children forever. Join us in this mission and help us create a world where every child has the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.
Thank you for your support.
first phrase PICTURES & DONORS
Deborah Lowe
Dr. Jim Krause
Dwight Dougbah Porte
Eugene Harmon
Jeff Krigbaum
Joel Robe
Ma-Tenneh Sampson
Mercy Dennis
project first phrase:
Our Sponsors & Partners
Eugene Harmon grew up playing soccer barefoot on the street of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia in West Africa.
As kids, he and his friends did not have fancy gear or a well-manicured soccer pitch. Collecting large rocks as goalposts and creating lines and markings out of sticks, Harmon said the sport taught him not to give up easily.
Years of practice paid off. When he moved to the United States in 2009 to pursue higher education, a soccer coach at Bucks County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania invited him to join the college's soccer program and offered him a scholarship. He ultimately completed his associate degree in computer science in three years. After completion of his Bachelor degree in Computer Science, Harmon moved to Columbus’ East Side and earned his living as an IT specialist.
At age 26, Harmon wanted to give back to his community.
In 2017, he started a soccer program called the Columbus Astro Soccer Club, in Ohio. Two years later, he started a soccer program called the Zion Astro Football Academy (zionastro.com) in his home country to remotely mentor Liberian children ranging in age from 11 to 15. Harmon pays tens of thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to keep the program running.
“The youth in Liberia had no opportunity and no one to direct them to the right path,” Harmon said, “Soccer is the most-popular sport in Liberia, so I decided to use it as an instrument to get the kids’ attention and push them to stay in school.”
Harmon was born into a 14-year-long civil war that decimated Liberia’s infrastructure and social fabric. His mother did everything to keep him safe, some children were even recruited as child soldiers to fight with warring parties, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization based in New York.
The war ended in 2003 –– when Harmon was still living there –– but its impact was long lasting, he said. When he went back to Liberia to visit his family in 2016, he saw how the country’s youth continued to suffer from poverty and an unstable living environment.
“The parents would leave home in the morning for work and be away the whole day,” Harmon said. “The kids have no direction. They just do whatever they see. Some of them have nothing to eat during the day and would sell drugs to get food before their parents come home.”
When he came back to the U.S. from his trip, Harmon said he knew he had to do something.
In 2019, he enlisted the help of five organizers in Liberia to create a nonprofit soccer program in Ganta, a city three hours away from the country's capital. The goal, he said, not only was to give children an opportunity to practice the sport but also to incentivize them to continue their education.
“The policy is: If you’re not a student, you can't play soccer in the organization,” Harmon said. “These kids love soccer so much that if you tell them they can’t practice, it’s like you’re taking everything away from them, so the program forces them to stay in school.”
Besides hosting soccer practices three times a week, the program also requires participants to have a daily reading schedule, attend regular speaker events, players development sessions, and engage in community service projects every weekend. While the five staff members in Liberia are in charge of organizing activities on the ground, Harmon talks to the kids via Zoom every Thursday to keep them motivated.
Running the program comes with a major financial commitment. It costs about $1,800 a month to rent the soccer pitch, compensate the local organizers and pay for hospital bills when the kids get injured during practice. Harmon said he has had to cut down his own expenses in Columbus to continue the program in Africa (Liberia).
After a few months of establishing the program, Harmon spent $24,000 –– almost his entire life savings –– to purchase six acres of land in Ganta, where he hopes to build a school for the children to attend free of charge.
Besides overseeing the program in Liberia, Harmon also leads a soccer team on the East Side of Columbus. Many belong to families that came from African counties such as Kenya, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria. In 2021, the team played in a soccer league for the first time.
Amadou Ba, 55, came from Senegal and now lives on the East Side. His two sons, 6 and 10, have been playing on Harmon’s team for more than a year now. He said soccer has been instrumental to his children’s personal growth.
“Soccer is teaching them discipline, respect, and teamwork,” Ba said. “They’re learning skills they can use their whole lives, and they love it. As soon as they get home from school, they are ready to go to the soccer field for practice.”
The kids in Liberia are hoping to follow Harmon’s path and attend an American college on a sports scholarship. But it’s a tough process, Harmon said. “If they can come to the U.S. on a soccer program, that would be everything for them,” Harmon said. “But my primary goal is to give them an education, and it doesn’t matter if they are in Liberia or America. I just want them to know that they don’t have to be on the street to survive.”
In 2021, Harmon completed the official merging of both Columbus Astro SC and Zion Astro FC under one name, which is now Zion Astro FC (www.zionastro.com)
Eugene Harmon grew up playing soccer barefoot on the street of Monrovia, the capital of Liberia in West Africa.
As kids, he and his friends did not have fancy gear or a well-manicured soccer pitch. Collecting large rocks as goalposts and creating lines and markings out of sticks, Harmon said the sport taught him not to give up easily.
Years of practice paid off. When he moved to the United States in 2009 to pursue higher education, a soccer coach at Bucks County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania invited him to join the college's soccer program and offered him a scholarship. He ultimately completed his associate degree in computer science in three years. After completion of his Bachelor degree in Computer Science, Harmon moved to Columbus’ East Side and earned his living as an IT specialist.
At age 26, Harmon wanted to give back to his community.
In 2017, he started a soccer program called the Columbus Astro Soccer Club, in Ohio. Two years later, he started a soccer program called the Zion Astro Football Academy (zionastro.com) in his home country to remotely mentor Liberian children ranging in age from 11 to 15. Harmon pays tens of thousands of dollars out of his own pocket to keep the program running.
“The youth in Liberia had no opportunity and no one to direct them to the right path,” Harmon said, “Soccer is the most-popular sport in Liberia, so I decided to use it as an instrument to get the kids’ attention and push them to stay in school.”
Harmon was born into a 14-year-long civil war that decimated Liberia’s infrastructure and social fabric. His mother did everything to keep him safe, some children were even recruited as child soldiers to fight with warring parties, according to a report by Human Rights Watch, a non-governmental organization based in New York.
The war ended in 2003 –– when Harmon was still living there –– but its impact was long lasting, he said. When he went back to Liberia to visit his family in 2016, he saw how the country’s youth continued to suffer from poverty and an unstable living environment.
“The parents would leave home in the morning for work and be away the whole day,” Harmon said. “The kids have no direction. They just do whatever they see. Some of them have nothing to eat during the day and would sell drugs to get food before their parents come home.”
When he came back to the U.S. from his trip, Harmon said he knew he had to do something.
In 2019, he enlisted the help of five organizers in Liberia to create a nonprofit soccer program in Ganta, a city three hours away from the country's capital. The goal, he said, not only was to give children an opportunity to practice the sport but also to incentivize them to continue their education.
“The policy is: If you’re not a student, you can't play soccer in the organization,” Harmon said. “These kids love soccer so much that if you tell them they can’t practice, it’s like you’re taking everything away from them, so the program forces them to stay in school.”
Besides hosting soccer practices three times a week, the program also requires participants to have a daily reading schedule, attend regular speaker events, players development sessions, and engage in community service projects every weekend. While the five staff members in Liberia are in charge of organizing activities on the ground, Harmon talks to the kids via Zoom every Thursday to keep them motivated.
Running the program comes with a major financial commitment. It costs about $1,800 a month to rent the soccer pitch, compensate the local organizers and pay for hospital bills when the kids get injured during practice. Harmon said he has had to cut down his own expenses in Columbus to continue the program in Africa (Liberia).
After a few months of establishing the program, Harmon spent $24,000 –– almost his entire life savings –– to purchase six acres of land in Ganta, where he hopes to build a school for the children to attend free of charge.
Besides overseeing the program in Liberia, Harmon also leads a soccer team on the East Side of Columbus. Many belong to families that came from African counties such as Kenya, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria. In 2021, the team played in a soccer league for the first time.
Amadou Ba, 55, came from Senegal and now lives on the East Side. His two sons, 6 and 10, have been playing on Harmon’s team for more than a year now. He said soccer has been instrumental to his children’s personal growth.
“Soccer is teaching them discipline, respect, and teamwork,” Ba said. “They’re learning skills they can use their whole lives, and they love it. As soon as they get home from school, they are ready to go to the soccer field for practice.”
The kids in Liberia are hoping to follow Harmon’s path and attend an American college on a sports scholarship. But it’s a tough process, Harmon said. “If they can come to the U.S. on a soccer program, that would be everything for them,” Harmon said. “But my primary goal is to give them an education, and it doesn’t matter if they are in Liberia or America. I just want them to know that they don’t have to be on the street to survive.”
In 2021, Harmon completed the official merging of both Columbus Astro SC and Zion Astro FC under one name, which is now Zion Astro FC (www.zionastro.com)