(By International Executive Director, Shingi Mavima)
Congrats to our incredble co-founder and director of marketing, Musa Milupi!
I first met Musa some seven years ago. Already three years into my college career, I was already established in my involvement around campus when he first came to Grand Valley State University. I had been a founding member of the African Student Council and president at the time, a Resident Assistant and active in my fraternity. Up until then, I had desperately tried to rally friends- African or otherwise- to get involved in all the things the school had to offer; with various and mainly meager levels of success.
Thus, when Musa approached me upon introduction and barraged me with a dozen questions about how he could get involved, I was slightly caught off guard. Who was this kid, and who had put him up to this? In time, his relentless pursuit for the uplift of his community could not go unnoticed. Within a year of arriving at GVSU, Musa was presiding over the African Student Council, on the GVSU Soccer team, a Resident Assistant, a member of the fraternity, among other things. We also grew to be particularly good friends due to an endless list of other similar interests: we were both lifelong Arsenal fans who played goalkeeper prior to college, hailed from southern Africa, and were committed to overturning the perception and condition of the continent.
In all this, three qualities about Musa stuck with me even as I graduated and left the state: his uncompromising work ethic, his steadfast dedication to community service, and his eternal childlike eagerness to learn new things. When the idea for CLUBHOUSE International began to take shape, I had no qualms in my mind about who I needed to sign up on our US-based team. Four years later, Musa has continued to be part of the CLUBHOUSE lifeblood that dates back to its founding. He has fundraised, programmed, met with people, fought with me and others- all to ensure that the work we do continues to grow and help those it was created to.
Sillier Times! Back in the day, with Musa and I taking a break from a study session
As I write this note on occasion of Musa’s graduation from George Mason University with a B.A in Sports Management, I am especially awed by his dedication. Here is a man who, twice, has been forced to leave school in the US and even return home to Zambia, and yet has persevered and walks out of the halls of his Alma Mater with a hero’s tale to tell and the world at his feet. In so many ways, Musa embodies the CLUBHOUSE essence at its core. We are honored to have him on the team, and I am personally humbled to call you one of my best friends.
Congratulations Baby Moose!
