ABOUT US

Created to support kids with low literacy skills, the Badoe Family Foundation is a non profit foundation which was birthed from a need to bring the gift of reading to children in the villages in Ghana.

Formal education in the rural areas of Ghana are substandard at best. The Foundation believes that access to reading as a supplemental resource and support, is key to advancing success in school for the children.

For this reason we build libraries in the villages in Ghana. The library is a community center providing free access to books, materials, programs and other services that serve to fulfill the community’s educational and enrichment needs while the children develop a lifelong love of books, reading, and learning.

We are a 501(c)(3)organization.

Our Story and History

Over 25 years ago, Matriarch and Founder Mary Badoe had a dream of opening a children's library in her village in Ghana, and collected hundreds of children's books for that purpose. Life happens, as they say, and after a few years of collecting and storing them, she gave them away, but the dream did not die.

Fast forward to 2015, her husband and Co Founder Joseph Badoe led a humble team of four people on a mission trip to Ghana. While in Ghana they visited two villages where they were able to minister by giving the kids much needed school uniforms, school supplies and shoes. Being around the village children made such an impact on them and they wanted to help and affect the children in a lasting way.

One of the villages was Mary's ancestral village.

Mary's parents love and devotion for the village of Mankoadze and its inhabitants was something that had left a lasting impression on her in the past. She wanted to establish something in the memory of her parents, believing that every child deserves a fair chance to have a good education.

Mary's Father, Robert K Ocran, grew up in Mankoadze village and he ended up becoming a very wealthy industrialist and businessman. He employed over two thousand people at one time and made a big impact in Ghana for a long time. He nurtured the youth of the village, training them and putting them in active employment in the company.

Over the years Mary's thought was how many more children running around the village have potential for greatness like her father had? Her rationalization is that given similar possible opportunities many other kids could grow up to be very successful in whatever field they find themselves. They felt the burden of getting access to books for the village children so that they would have the opportunity to read, learn, and be more ready for school.

Children are the heartbeat of every nation. They are our future. Setting them up for success in school by instilling in them at an early age, the opportunity of reading and literacy, seemed like a great starting point.

Joseph and Mary Badoe started the Badoe Family Foundation, a non profit 501(c)(3) organization for the purpose of building libraries in villages in Ghana, Mankoadze village being the first one. They started to collect books from schools, books that they were ready to throw out or replace, and the rest as they say, is history.