Rev. Dr. JohnBosco O. Ikemeh: Why I Founded AEO
Today there is no free public education in Nigeria and in most African countries. From kindergarten to college, families must pay to educate their children. Although there are private schools, most are not affordable, and many are substandard. The same was true when I was a child in Nigeria decades ago. My parents could not afford to pay tuition for all their ten children. They sent some of my older siblings to school, and encouraged me, a middle child, to learn a trade. I wanted an education, however, and started hawking on the streets and assisting at construction sites in order to earn money to pay tuition. Then God sent a parish priest to help me achieve the goal of attending school.
I was a young altar boy when Rev. Kevin Ikpah came to my church as our pastor. He asked me to join other boys who lived in church quarters. It was an answer to my prayers because, among other blessings, it provided the opportunity to go to school. Two years later, Rev Ikpah left for another Church. I had to work at construction sites on weekends and holidays to buy my books and school uniform and to help my parents pay tuition.
Fr. JohnBosco (right), Mgsr Kevin Ikpah (left)
Today, by the grace of God, I did not only graduate from secondary school, I have been privileged to earn a graduate degree in Clinical Psychology and a doctorate degree in Theology from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California. I am a priest in the Catholic Church and a chaplain at the hospital. Countless children are still hawking on the streets or working on construction sites in Lagos, Lusaka, Kivu, Abidjan, Nairobi, and other African cities. Many children are working in mines. Few, if any, of those children can hope to attend school unless new opportunities are created for them.
Concern for these children led me to begin a conversation with Father Gabriel Smith of West Ashley who was very supportive and encouraged the launching of African Education Outreach (AEO), a 501(c) 3 organization whose first task is to build a school in Abakaliki, Nigeria. AEO is privileged to have the support of Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston, South Carolina in whose diocese we are incorporated. Our collective efforts and prayers in this undertaking underscore our commitment to change lives in Africa, one child at a time and one community at a time. AEO is a member of South Carolina Association of Nonprofit Organization (SCANPO); we have a gold star status on Guidestar.
