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Now one of the most successful footballers in Ghana�s history, Black Stars captain, John Mensah, has come a very long way. John says the needy in our society are one of his main priorities in his life. Known as the Rock of Gibraltar in football circles, the 29-year-old in an exclusive interview with The Weekend Globe revealed what many Ghanaians do not know about his struggles to stardom. The out of contract former Olympic Lyon player is an avid giver. His charity habit is inspired by his childhood struggles. John is married to a beautiful wife, Henrietta Mensah, with four beautiful children. John Mensah�s latest donation was to the Obuasi Central mosque where he donated items worth about GH�10,000 to the Muslims as they begun their Ramadam fast. The Black Stars captain, who hails from Obuasi in the Ashanti Region, has played for a number of clubs in Europe. He started his career with Bologna in the Italian Serie A as a teenager. He went on to play for other clubs like Chievo, Genoa, Rennes, and Lyon, where he went on loan to Sunderland before returning to an injury plagued season in his club. His injuries restricted him to not playing a single game for the French Ligue 1 outfit last season. Speaking to The Weekend Globe from his plush resident at Trassaco, the gentle and reserved John Mensah told the story of his struggles with his mother and siblings growing up. Coming from a very poor home with a mother who virtually had to cater for all the kids because of the busy schedule of his father who travelled most of the time, he told this reporter how he had to be an errand boy to support the family. �My mother used to sell foodstuff on the street because we came from a very poor family. She always brought some of the foodstuff from the market and asked us to select the nice ones amongst them so we could send them to the church. My siblings and I always asked her why she was only selecting the nice ones for the church to give as a gift, but anytime we asked she only replied with a smile. She never told us why she was doing that so we just stopped asking. All I did was carry the foodstuff on my head and take them to the church on my mother�s instructions. When I look at my past right down from when I had to do odd jobs like selling kerosene, working as a shoe shine boy, selling water and other stuff on the streets and even going to the bush to get firewood to sell so the family could get food to eat at the end of the day, I clearly know how the people who are in need feel, because I have been down that road before and it just comes from deep within my heart to help them. These people (the people he donates to) need it and once I can help them I don�t see why I shouldn�t.� a reminiscing John said. My past, and especially my mother�s good deeds, have really made an impact in my life. He wore a broad smile as he leaned back to relax in his brown leather arm chair. As the interview came to an end, the Black Stars captain could not hide his emotions when he turned around to look at one of his pictures fitted in the far right corner of his living room with the late President Mills whom he described as a great man who had taken Ghana football to a different level. The Rock of Gibraltar added that he plays to give.