Public service is a driving desire for Julie Ewing

Nov. 17, 2010

By Larry Watts
Contributor, BigTen.org

Julie Ewing has an addiction.

But this isn't a case of drugs or food. The University of Illinois junior's problem is a good one -- helping others, especially those in East Africa. 

"God put Africa in my heart in middle school," says the 5-foot-3 outside defender on the Illini women's soccer team. "Starting in the winter of eighth grade, three of my friends and I started sponsoring children in Tanzania through Compassion International. From then on, we got involved in a lot of stuff, like Darfur and leading discussions on the genocide.

"Toward the end of high school (in Batavia, Ill.), I was raising money for Keep a Child Alive, which provides drugs to fight the HIV virus for women and children in impoverished countries. Once I found out how much people were willing to help when educated about the problem, it lit a fire under me to go to Africa. My church sent groups ove

r, but I could never go because I was so involved with club soccer."

But this past summer, Ewing's dream became a reality. For two weeks in July, she was able to take a break from playing soccer for the Eclipse and head to the village of Sikirar in Kenya with 18 other student-athletes from various universities and colleges in the United States. Their mission, as part of Student-Athletes Leading through Social Change, was to build a new school.

"I was looking for a way to go to Africa this past summer and then I got this e-mail about SALSC," says Ewing, who is majoring in communications with a minor in A

frican Studies. "I jumped on it right away. Fortunately, I have been taking Swahili classes, which is what they speak in a handful of East African countries."

In the two weeks, Ewing's group, with the help of some of the locals, was able to build over half of the school. A second group from SALSC would add the finishing touches, including a roof.

"It had to be as structurally sound as possible, so we could only build so much per day because the mortar had to settle," Ewing says. "We would work in the morning and play with the kids in the afternoon." 

According to Ewing, the go-to game was "Twiga (Giraffe), Twiga, Simba (Lion)." People in the United States know it as "Duck, Duck, Goose."

And participation really hit a high note, when the Americans rolled out the soccer balls they had brought to the village.

"As soon as the soccer balls came out, it was craziness," Ewing says with a laugh. "That place became a real zoo."

According to the Ewing, one of the highlights of their stay came when the students took on the Sikirar men's team in a game of soccer.

"We played on a dirt field with trees as posts," she says. "There were a lot of bumps and some ditches. There were cows and goats grazing in the grass around the field.

"Including myself, we had three girls who played college soccer and the rest of our team was a real hodge-podge," she says. "We had a women's swimmer, a water polo player, a softball player, a football player and a couple of guys from Kenya who were working with the group."

Yet, even with only three players with soccer experience, the SALSC group won 3-2.

"I think they were all pretty amazed to see that the three best players on our team were girls," she says. "Girls don't get a chance to play soccer as much over there, so they were pretty impressed to see these girls doing all the tricks and scoring the goals."

The expedition came during the winter months in Kenya. The temperature would be in the 70s during most of the day, hitting the 50s at night.

"We would get up early in the morning and see some beautiful sunrises," says Ewing.

During her short stay, Ewing says she got really attached to a 5-year-old boy.

"From the second day, he was always hanging around my neck and didn't want to let go," she says. "I wanted to take him home with me. There are so many amazing little kids in that village."

As part of the Me to We organization, the SALSC volunteers were able to leave behind shoes, clothing and ball caps for the employed workers in addition to the soccer balls.

"Whatever I didn't need, I left it there," Ewing says. "The idea of Me to We is not to bring them stuff, but provide things that will have a permanent impact and last, such as a school or a permanent source for clean water."

Back on the soccer field at Illinois, Ewing played a pivotal role in helping the Illini land a spot in the NCAA Tournament. They finished the season with a 13-5-1 record and Ewing started all 19 games this year.

Ewing started all 18 of the games she played in last season, scoring her lone goal of her career against Iowa. She missed one game (Penn State) after suffering a concussion during the game with Ohio State.

"It was raining and I went up for a header (on a punt) about 10 minutes into the game," she says. "I must have hit it wrong because I couldn't see out of my left eye for the rest of the half. I took some Advil at halftime, which you shouldn't do with a concussion. But I didn't tell anyone until after the game I was having a problem. It wasn't a smart move on my part.

"I took the concussion tests the next day and I failed. I wound up spending most of the weekend in bed."

Ewing has started all 17 matches this season. She even received a belated 21st birthday gift while playing at Michigan on Halloween.

"I'm sporting a beautiful black eye right now," she says with a laugh. "Of course, it's my left eye. It collided with the elbow of one of the Michigan players."

Playing as an outside defender has been a big change for Ewing, who was groomed up front while playing at Batavia High School and with the Eclipse.

"All of my moves were instinctive; I didn't have to think," she says. "Offense is just more natural for me, but the coaching staff has done a very good job of making me feel more comfortable on defense. At least on the outside, I do have a chance to move up the field and get involved in the attack. However, there is such an awesome group of girls playing in front of me and it's fun to be out there with them."

Now that she has had a chance to experience her dream, the 21-year-old Ewing wants more. She is turning her attention more to intercultural communications and wants to head back to Africa.

"A dream of mine would be to lead trips for middle school to college age students to East Africa and get them involved," she says. "Once you get people over there and they see the need for clean water, money to buy a uniform to go to school or to upgrade the schools, I think that would change their appreciation for the same things they have here.

"It would open people's eyes to see outside their local context and how much could be done by sending such things as clothing, tooth brushes, dental floss and nail clippers. Just by having shorter fingernails and cleaner teeth, so many diseases can be prevented. I want others to have the same experience I had."

 

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