17 April 2012
http://theorion.com/features/article_cb1c7cf6-8839-11e1-9995-0019bb30f31a.html
Gina Calabrese The Orion | 0 comments
It’s close to midnight, and as students are playing soccer and basketball and working out, the custodian at the Wildcat Recreation Center, a former national soccer player, is vacuuming the empty rock-climbing area.
Seghen Hailu has worked in the custodial department of the WREC for three years, but few people know that he played for the soccer team in his home nation in Africa before political unrest caused him and his family to flee the country.
Hailu was born and raised in Eritrea, a country in the Horn of Africa, and played for the country’s national soccer team for two years, he said.
“It feels so great to play for your country, but at the same time, I feel bad because I can’t do more because of the political situation,” Hailu said.
Eritrea was Italian territory before being owned by Britain and then federated with Ethiopia, he said.
It was war “over and over again” in Africa, Hailu said. The entire country of Eritrea went under and took its soccer team with it.
In 1993, Hailu went to Minnesota, where some of his family lived, and started his own cleaning company when he was 23, he said.
Unfortunately, America’s terrible economy caused his company to close, and he began job hunting online, Hailu said. His experience and background in professional cleaning landed him his current job at the WREC.
Rick Scott, the director of the WREC, regards Hailu as an outstanding worker and respects him for starting a new chapter and putting his life back together, Scott said.
“I love working here,” Hailu said. “The people I work with are not only beautiful on the outside but the inside as well.”
Although he works long hours, he enjoys giving students soccer tips and helping them improve their technique during his lunch breaks, he said
“It’s what I want to do the rest of my life,” Hailu said. “I want to play soccer and help others to play soccer.”
Students on the court were astonished when they realized such a remarkable athlete was right under their noses, said Ricky Niese, a junior religious studies major.
Niese was mainly surprised because Hailu had never mentioned he was on a national team, he said.
Hailu’s path in life has led him to Chico, and judging by the ear-to-ear smile on his face, he is happy where he has ended up.
He has two young children, a boy and a girl, he said. Hailu wants his children to get their basic education, but most of all, he wants them to be lovable, considerate individuals.
His mother, two of his sisters and one brother stayed in Eritrea after he fled, Hailu said, but his other siblings are in England, Germany, Saudi Arabia and around the United States.
While most of his family is dispersed throughout the world, Hailu gets to see his sister in Chico every day, he said.
“There’s nothing better,” Hailu said about being connected with his family.
Hailu has lost teeth and suffered head injuries while playing international soccer and has more than a dozen scars on his legs.
Scars leave memories, he said, and his are fond ones of playing on the Eritrean national soccer team.
Gina Calabrese can be reached at
gcalabrese_at_theorion.com
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Received on Tue Apr 17 2012 - 22:28:06 EDT
