Orphanaid Africa

Back to back posts!

Today I was at the staff meeting for OA. I learnt a lot about OA today which I think I'll talk about here. After the staff meeting I got a lift to the city with Lisa (founder and president) and I'm killing time till she's ready to head back. Being a nerd (and Osu part of Accra is really touristyand boring) I blog when I need to kill time.

Ok so about OA... Firstly, the website is: http://www.oafrica.org/

It used to be called Orphanage Africa. But a few years ago, they realised that a kid who grows up in institutionalised care (orphanages) have trouble fitting back in to society when he "graduates". So the best way for a child to grow up is in a family. So they changed their name from Orphanage Africa to Orphanaid Africa and changed their organisation from institutionalised care to focusing on family-based care. Go to website for more.

Now about Lisa. She was the youngest editor for Vogue and has written many books. She speaks French, English, Spanish, Italian and German. The first 4 with equal fluency. She reads like it's going out of fashion and has written 13 books. She's lived for significant amount of time in Spain, France, US, Morocco, England and now Ghana.

She runs this organisation like a business - very efficiently. One of the biggest critcisms an NGO faces is that more money is spent in administration than community service. Watching her driving people hard and saving money wherever possible is very reassuring. Her vision is clear and the way she goes about it is admirable. I quite like this organisation and plan to continue my association with it even after I return.