What Is 'Our Children Africa'

Our Children Africa is a Ghanaian non-governmental organization, which was co-founded by four dedicated law students. It was during the summer of 2007 that three Canadian law students; Gagan Sangha, Nicole Andreakos and Shannon Kinch traveled to Ghana’s capital city, Accra where they interned with a local lawyer and learned about the Ghanaian legal system. They also volunteered their time at a local orphanage. The experience exposed them first-hand to the relationship between the law and poverty, especially as it affects women and children. While in Accra, they met Frederick Asamoah, a local Ghanaian law student, and social worker at the Osu Children’s Home. Their shared commitment to eradicate poverty by empowering women and children through development projects focused on education and economic assistance led them to co-found Our Children Africa. Frederick not only shared their vision, but was able to use his expertise to direct their efforts towards the areas that needed it most.

The result was the creation of development projects outlined on this site. OCA relies on the generous support of the private donors and volunteers to continue to build on these projects and raise awareness about their work in Ghana.

While Our Children Africa is a registered charity within Ghana, it is still in the process of becoming registered in Canada and therefore cannot issue tax receipts at this time. However, we anticipate that Our Children Africa will be a registered charity in Canada before the summer of 2009. That said, those interested in making a much needed donation at this time can learn more at the following link.

Donate to Our Children Africa

Our Vision and Mandate

Our Children Africa works with communities in Southern Ghana through the development and funding of various development initiatives, which give particular focus on the following areas:

• Alleviation of poverty - The underlying objective guiding all of OCA’s initiatives is the alleviation of the three dimensions of poverty; lack of money, lack of access, and lack of power.


• Access to Education - We view access to education as an essential means through which youth can escape poverty and promote upward mobility within society. OCA’s school construction programs provide suitable primary schools in rural areas where currently in many areas, if a school exists at all, it is built of bamboo and cannot operate during inclement weather (Our Children Africa - School Construction Project).


• Gender equality and Women’s Empowerment - OCA believes that projects that encourage women to become empowered and self-sufficient is a major step in bettering communities as a whole. OCA promotes gender equality and empowerment through the establishment of scholarship programs and vocational training for young girls. OCA also arranges small business loans and encourages women to participate in fair trade industries. OCA believes that it is also important to enable women to take care of themselves and their children during pregnancy and throughout motherhood and therefore seeks to educate women about their bodies and their legal rights.


• Community Empowerment - By attending to the needs of women and children, OCA believes that it is helping to empower those that are often the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. OCA hopes this will serve to strengthen communities as a whole by broadening the range of voices being heard and laying positive foundations for the future by educating the next generation.


• Self-Sufficiency & Self-Reliance- Through education and empowerment initiatives, OCA’s objective is to encourage community self-reliance and self-sufficiency by helping communities design and actualize common development goals that reflect the interests of a broader range of members and equipping them with the tools needed to continue to progress and prosper into the future.