It was but one moment in the eventful life of Doctor Ayeliya.

But what a moment.

Ayeliya, a 2008 EOU graduate, was returning to his home village of

Bui in northern Ghana in early December. Following a 17-hour bus trip

from Ghana’s capital of Accra and a five-mile taxi cab ride, Ayeliya

finally arrived.

The wait was over, not only for Ayeliya but the several hundred friends and family members who had gathered to greet him.

“I was surprised,” Ayeliya said. “Almost my entire village was there.”

Ayeliya will not say it, but many who greeted him probably viewed him as a hero – a person to embrace because of what he has done to lift the village’s people following a devastating flood in 2007.

Soon after the flood ravaged much of northern Ghana, Ayeliya started Sabu Help, a nonprofit organization dedicated to getting rural people in Africa to help themselves.

Today many people in Bui and the nearby village of Tompola are back on their feet thanks to Sabu Help. The nonprofit group, assisted in large part by donations from

La Grande residents, has raised about $13,000 for Tampola and Bui in the past three years.

Ayeliya said the friends and family who greeted him were anxious to know about Eastern Oregon because of the support its people have provided.

“They are so grateful,” Ayeliya said. “They wanted to convey their thanks to Eastern Oregon.”

Ayeliya was in Tampola for three weeks before he returned to the United States in late December.

“It was hard to leave Ghana and my people behind, but I can help them more in the United States,” he said.

Ayeliya now lives in Taylorville, Utah, but maintains close ties to La Grande, where Sabu Help, which he still heads, is based.

Ayeliya will discuss his return trip to Ghana in detail in La Grande March 12 during a fundraising dinner for Sabu Help at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church. A presentation on Sabu Help will start at

5 p.m., and a dinner and silent auction begin at 6. A performance by the EOU African Drumming Ensemble will start at 7.

Food served will include bambara beans that Ayeliya brought from Ghana.

“Bambara beans are one of the favorite foods of tourists when they come to our village,” Ayeliya said.

Bambara beans are also a favorite of Ayeliya, and the first food he ate after returning to Tampola.

Tickets for the March 12 dinner are $10 for adults and $5 for youths. Tickets are available at the EOU Multicultural Center, Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church and the Janet Hume CPA office, 1118 J Ave. Tickets can also be purchased by calling Shalem O’Rourke, 541-910-0937; Dawna Flanagan, 541-962-3121; or Bennie Moses, 541-962-3741.

The goal of Sabu Help this year is to raise $5,750, which would be enough to provide 50 families with $115 each.

Ayeliya said the impact of donations can’t be underestimated because a dollar goes far in Ghana. One U.S. dollar is enough money to feed a family of five in Ghana for a week.

The goal of Sabu Help is to provide people with long-term sustainability by making them self-sufficient.

“We do not provide people with just a glass of water. We give them a well so they can drink for a long time,” Ayeliya said.

All farmers assisted by Sabu Help are required to pay back the money they received once their crops are harvested and sold. The money is returned to the Sabu Help Fund so that it can be used to help other people in Africa.

Sabu Help has assisted 130 needy families in Ghana since 2008. Donations can be made by going to the Sabu Help website: sabuhelp.org.