Our History
Our history
We Are In A Mission To
Help The Helpness
ROZA Promotions Inc. (ROZA), is community based, 501 C 3 tax exempt organization that was established in Staten Island, New York in February 1994. ROZA was founded in Liberia in 1981 as a community soccer team on 12th Street, Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia, West Africa. ROZA seeks to provide humanitarian supports and welfare of Africans in the USA and Africa.
Currently, ROZA organize sporting, cultural and recreational activities & programs for families (youths and adults). We organize these activities through our core programs:
- Youth Leadership & Development
- Sweet Mothers of Staten Island
- ROZA Sports Association
- The Elder Literacy & Recreational Program
ROZA take youth trips to amusement parks, museums, educational / historical sites around New York City and nearby states. Youths are encouraged to volunteer at events and participate in activities that will give them additional learning opportunities.
Mothers come together to empower & support one another. The recognize the exceptional contributions other mother make in the community and recognize them publicly.
ROZA vigorously advocates for and provides culturally appropriate counseling, education, and information to African immigrants and refugees. The program largely serves Liberians, as well as Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians, and Guineans. The program focuses on disadvantaged children of African descent living primarily in Staten Island, as well as other parts of New York City. In the early to mid 1990s, large numbers of West African refugees were resettled in Staten Island.
Many of the new arrivals lacked previous formal education and, according to the schools, approximately 85% of the refugee children in the area were functioning below their grade level, leading to academic frustration and a risk of youth problem behaviors. Building on an NYU Trauma Center study, a community needs assessment, and the observations of Mr. Rufus Arkoi, a Liberian community leader in Staten Island and future director of ROZA, Mr. Arkoi developed after-school programs for refugee children and youth on Staten Island.
The goals were to keep the youth off the streets, teach them good citizenship, and to help them succeed academically and socially. Mr. Arkoi modeled this program on a successful youth soccer program he developed in Liberia in 1981. Again using his soccer skills, he created ROZA and helped the refugee community in Staten Island.
ROZA, an African word meaning “survivor” (as well as an acronym for Mr. Arkoi’s own name), accurately describes the program’s aim of serving child and youth survivors of war.
