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The young man, who once went to a school without electricity or water, slept in the school he was attending, and had to scavenge for food he cooked over a fire, has come a long way. Ayeliya holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ, and a Master\u2019s in Public Administration (MPA) from The University of Utah. He is also the Executive Director and founder of Sabu Help International, a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating poverty and transforming lives through microloans, training and education in Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2007, while Ayeliya was a student at EOU a flood hit his village in Ghana, Africa. As a senior, Ayeliya decided his capstone project would be to fundraise to make a difference in the lives of those affected back home. The community of La Grande responded to his call to action with clothes and donations. The high cost of shipping delayed those donations until a local church stepped in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was going to cost $7,000 to ship (the donations) home,\u201d Ayeliya recalled. Instead Ayeliya made a deal with the church and traded the donations for cash. \u201cIt was a temporary solution and I was looking for something permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ayeliya feels indebted to the La Grande community members who helped him establish his charity. They raised money and helped teach his village to be self-sufficient to “mulitply and give a them a lifetime of sustainability, not just clothing or shoes that will last less than a year.” The funding raised was the seed of his microloans project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Growing up, there were times there was never food in the house; I was always hungry,” Ayeliya recalled. “Having the opportunity to come here to get the education, I was empowered to change my situation. I could change my family’s dynamics. But, I didn’t want to just change my home, I wanted to change the community.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ayeliya\u2019s opportunity for education came after Izaak Edvalson, a Peace Corps worker from La Grande, met him in Ghana. Eventually Edvalson would raise funds to send Ayeliya to an academy in Ghana that prepared him for his education at EOU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAmerican education is designed to teach people to think critically about issues; it\u2019s not just memorizing or following the majority. Education gives you a way to think for yourself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“EOU is my second home. This was a community that gave me a sense of belonging, purpose, and a sense of empowerment to make me think critically. And because of this, I need to give it to other generations,” Ayeliya said.<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nWhen asked how he measures success, Ayeliya recalls a story about his father in Africa. \u201cMy dad has always been an example of putting people first,\u201d Ayeliya said. He remembers when a man from a neighboring village came looking for a chicken to feed a sick child and his father gave the man the family\u2019s last chicken. \u201cIt comes back to you,\u201d Ayelia said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not the material things that make you successful,\u201d Ayeliya said. \u201cI am happy where I am, I am happy I am able to help people and feel a sense of purpose in society. I believe God created us for a reason. If there was no reason for you, why would God have created you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I look at my family, my children, my brothers and sisters back home, and they don’t miss their meals. The clients we are supporting are able to go to college,” Ayeliya said. “That is the level of standard for life; I consider that a success.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ayeliya, who is still at the head of Sabu Help International, speaks passionately about empowering individuals and communities, from microloans to providing goats to make sure new families have milk, to supporting exceptional students from year one to graduation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was the only one in my village to have earned a college degree, and also a master’s degree. I think with that, people will call for help with initiatives. The government alone can not provide that.\u201d Ayeliya said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The founder of Sabu Help International said he has been conditioned to look inside himself to be the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI create tools to help people help themselves,\u201d Ayeliya, an ambassador for change, said. \u201cWe all have a sense of responsibility, if they can they should help us to raise the resources, stand up and help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ayeliya said he remains grateful to the community of La Grande. \u201cI want to express appreciation to the people who continue to support this organization in the city of La Grande and Portland areas, and across the state. They open up to share with others in need. But, I cannot do it by myself, it takes a village,\u201d Ayeliya said. \u201cI wouldn’t be where I am today without Izaak, without the La Grande community and without À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. I love Eastern. It is like my home, it is my spirit. Eastern is in the heart of me and I really want to express that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
How an EOU education instilled a sense of belonging and inspired social consciousness Doctor Abio Ayeliya, ’08, was selected by the EOU Alumni Association as the 2022 Distinguished Alumni for his work helping others and he continues to affect change years after his graduation from À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ. The young man, who once went to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":491,"featured_media":2342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,172],"tags":[23,40,56],"class_list":["post-2340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-stories","category-spring-2023","tag-alumni","tag-business","tag-diversity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/491"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2388,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340\/revisions\/2388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eou.edu\/mountaineer-magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}