Francis K. Aduoffei founded the Ceciyaa Foundation out of his great desire to see change in the lives of the people of his home country, Ghana. His first-hand knowledge of the plight of the women and children of Ghana fired the vision for Ceciyaa and came in great part as he considered how he could affect change using the abundant resources– human and natural in most communities in Ghana along with the generosity and willingness of the American people.

Mr. Aduoffei, who currently serves as a Sergeant First Class in the United States Army, knows what it means to have inadequate food, clothing, and healthcare services. As a child in Ghana, he watched his mother as she struggled to help her community overcome these obstacles and how she eventually lost her life in service to others and without the benefit of proper diagnosis and medical treatment. Of his mother, he says, “She shared the family’s food with the entire community and fed countless children at our school, without asking anything in return. She never profited from her business, because she loaned money to those in need and always forgave their debts when they couldn’t pay. Late in her life, though she was ill, she sacrificed her own comfort, and used monies I sent her from America to care for her ailing father and others in her village. Her name was Ceciyaa and the foundation is named in her honor.”