CWU biology professor coordinates 10th annual fundraising soccer camp

CWU Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences Blaise Dondji was featured in the Ellensburg Daily Record this week for his work in putting on an annual fundraising soccer camp.

The 10th edition of the BAWA Soccer Camp kicked off Monday at Morgan Middle School and wrapped up Thursday, with morning and afternoon sessions for kids ages 5-13.

CWU Associate Professor Robert Pritchett also helped with the camp, which moved from Ellensburg High School to the middle school this year.

EHS players Brynlee Weber, Haley Kokjer and Jordan Vargas-Valle stepped in as volunteers.

The purpose of the camp is to help youth soccer players sharpen their skills in two-on-two and three-on-three drills so they can begin thinking more about teamwork.

"Before the younger group, I talked to the parents to tell them what we are doing, to tell why their kids are here: to get skills and to get a check that they are providing for us to go and fund the project that we have in Cameroon," Dondji said in the article.

"I let them know that this project is all about making other people's lives better - you don't have to have money to make somebody's life better. If you see a person who's sad, go up to the person and talk to the person.

The camp raises money for Sophie Awounke Community Health Centre in Dondji's hometown of Bawa, Cameroon. Dondji lost his mother when he was young due to insufficient medical resources in his village, and he has put on the Bawa Soccer Camp since 2013 as a way to raise money for things like health projects, medical supplies, mosquito bed nets, water filters, education for HIV, and more.

He also helps support youth soccer interest in Cameroon, bringing gently used soccer balls from Ellensburg when he visits every year. Dondji talked about what it was like growing up in Bawa and lacking the supplies needed to enjoy the game of soccer.

"We don't have a ball, but we'd take old clothes, we'd tie them together with some threads or a leaf that we'd find from the banana tree," he said. "We tied them together and we'd have a game."