How 'Alanfiyawurche' (Queen Mother of Health) is bringing succor to Ghana's most vulnerable people

The Lordina Foundation, established by the former First Lady of the Republic of Ghana, Lordina Mahama during the Presidency of her husband, John Dramani Mahama has effectively reinvented the role of First Lady in the country.

But even more instructively, the Lordina Foundation has not only outlived her tenure as First Lady; its activities have grown tremendously since she left that position at the start of 2017, and her foundation is now globally reputed as one of the most active and impactful non-governmental organisations in Ghana, its activities having a continuous major positive impact on thousands of beneficiaries every year drawn from some of the most vulnerable segments of our society.

The Lordina Foundation is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to the welfare of the underprivileged in Ghana, particularly Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) as well as women.

The Foundation, previously known as Alternative Source of Income Program (ASOIP) has over the years embarked on several activities geared towards poverty alleviation, women and youth empowerment, promotion of quality healthcare and support for education.

These activities include:

• Donating medical supplies and equipment to poorly resourced health facilities
• Offering free integrated health screening services in various communities
• Donating essentials to orphanages and to ostracised women (alleged witches) at “Witch Camps” for their upkeep
• Assisting brilliant but needy students with scholarships to enable them pursue their academic dreams
• Providing destitute artisans with start-up kits to enable them make meaningful livelihoods out of their acquired skills
• Providing Persons with Disabilities groups with targeted support
Explaining the rationale for her establishing the foundation Lordina Mahama asserts that :“While the government is committed to improving the health and welfare of the people, it cannot achieve all that by itself. The onus rests with individuals, NGOs and other charitable organisations to complement the efforts of the government to provide development-oriented support.”

To this end the Foundation’s mission is to contribute to the development of deprived children and women in both rural and urban areas by focusing on quality health care promotion, education and general wellbeing; and its vision is to bridge the gap between the disadvantaged and privileged by providing marginalized groups and communities equal opportunities.

Underpinning these are several core institutional objectives. These are, to grant scholarships to the brilliant but needy and underprivileged children to further their education; to give charity to the poor and the needy and assist people irrespective of race, colour, tribe or social orientation; to support orphanages, women and youth empowerment; and to provide vocational skills for the youth.

This is precisely what the Lordina Foundation has been doing over the past nearly one decade.

To be sure Ghanaians were impressed but not entirely surprised by the foundation’s activities while Lordina Mahama was still the First Lady.

These included, among many other interventions visits and donations to ANFAANI Children’s Home; visits and donations to Tamale Children’s Home; visits and donations to Gambaga GO Home Project (a camp for alleged witches); donations to Christ Faith Foster Homes, Betheseda Children’s Home and Frank May Children’s Home; Christmas Parties for children at Osu Orphanage; facilitation of interaction of youth with young and influential personalities; support for the 8th All Ghana Orphanage Sports Event; andsupport for Kids of Frafraha.

The most intriguing aspect of the Lordina Foundation was that even out of office, the foundation constructed a 45-bed maternity and children’s ward for the Bole government hospital, which was commissioned in July 2022.

‘Alanfiyawurche', who is also a native of Bole by marriage, has impacted the lives of the most vulnerable in society, particularly children and women. Over the past decade, 'Alanfiyawurche’ and President Mahama have organised Christmas parties for children in Bole, and various Christmas donations are made across the entire Savannah Region to the less privileged in society.

Other interventions during the early years of the Foundation included: a computer donation to commemorate Flair @50; a donation of medical equipment to Kumawu Polytechnic; the facilitation of accomodation for toddlers at Osu Children’s Home; the donation of a Siemens Acuson X150 Ultra Sound Canner to La General Hospital; the donation of buses to the Queen Mothers Association; assistance to people with disabilities; various donations of medical equipment and supplies; and empowerment of artisans.

Over the past few years, the former First Lady, through the Lordina Foundation has stepped up its activities even further.

For instance in 2019, among other things the Foundation, in December, visited and donated assorted items to the Frank May and Bethesda Children’s Homes in Techiman, the Tamale and Anfaani Children’s Homes in Tamale and the Christ Faith Foster Home and the Osu Children’s Home in Accra. Items donated included food, drinks clothing and toiletries.

The Lordina Foundation team also visited, interacted and presented items to women at the alleged witches camp in Gambaga for their upkeep.

In line with its commitment to the health of children, it supported the Anglican Diocese of Accra and Adoa Media Consult in its fundraising efforts to provide immediate medical care to children diagnosed of hearing impairments.

In September that year, 50 children from the Osu children’s Home and the Christ Faith Foster Home took part in another edition of the Lordina Foundation’s ‘Time with Young and Influential Personalities’ programme.

The programme provides an opportunity to bring together orphans from selected orphanages to interact among themselves, and also interact with professionals from diverse backgrounds. It helps them draw from the knowledge and real-life experiences of the professionals.

In 2020, among other things, the Foundation gave donations to Frank May and Bethesda Children’s Homes in Techiman, Christ Foster Home in Fafraha and the Osu Children’s Home in Accra. The women in the alleged Witches Camp in Gambaga also received their annual Christmas donation. Items donated included bags of rice, cooking oil, drinks, beverages, toiletries, and clothes.

In May 2020, as part of its round of support during the Covid-19 period, the Foundation presented 40 food relief packages to the ShareCare Foundation.

That same month, the Paramount Queen mother, Manye Amponsah Dokua with the support of the Lordina Foundation donated some food items and medical supplies to health facilities and residents in Osudoku to alleviate the effects of COVID 19.

The previous month, Lordina Foundation had gone to the aid of six orphanages, it had over the years adopted, with some food and other essential items. The six, which included the Osu Children’s Home, FrankMay Children’s Home in Techiman and the Tamale Children’s Home were presented with a quantity of items.

The other beneficiary homes were the Christ Faith Forster Home, Bethesda Children’s Home in Techiman and the Anfaani Children’s Home.

The Foundation also presented food and other essential items to the women in the Gambaga Witches Camp for their upkeep.

The Lordina Foundation, on the occasion of the 2020 edition of International Women’s Day, also donated assorted medical equipment to the Mampong Hospital in the Ashanti Region.

The presentation was informed by the Foundation’s quest to support improved access to quality maternal services and helping to reduce neonatal mortality in the country.

The Lordina Foundation periodically organizes a breast and cervical cancer screening exercise for female members of the Ringway Estates Assemblies of God Church in Accra.

Lordina Mahama herself is an extraordinary humanitarian who has brought her exemplary education, experience, and love for humanity to bear on the activities of the Foundation she founded and nurtured.

'Alanfiyawurche' is highly educated. She holds a Master’s Degree in Governance and Leadership from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Accra and a Master of Laws Degree in Business Law from the De Montfort University in Leicester, United Kingdom.

The former First Lady is also a certified marriage counsellor and in 2019 completed a counselling skills programme at the International Centre for Training and Development (ICTD) in Abu Dhabi.

She also holds a degree in hospitality from GIMPA and a certificate in Catering from the Flair Catering Services.

Lordina Mahama is a great cook, loves cooking, has great passion and loves to encourage, motivate, inspire, help and counsel.

As part of her many recognizable achievements, Lordina Mahama is a former President of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA) and also a former Premier HIV Ambassador for the UNAIDS Global Plan to Eliminate Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV (eMTCT) and Keep Mothers Alive.

Other significant achievements of the former First Lady include;

• An award of Doctorate Degree in Humane Letters by Fordham University, New York.

• An award for a campaign for cervical cancer, Maputo, Mozambique.

• Award for cervical cancer advocacy, Windhoek, Namibia.

• Honours from the State of New Jersey and the City of Newark for her dedicated service to humanity and her philanthropic works.

• Induction into the Global Women Leaders Hall of Fame.

• Global Inspiration Leadership Award at the Africa-Middle East-Asia summit in Dubai.

• Honours by the State of Georgia and Maryland in the United State of America for her work in women empowerment and support for children in deprived communities in Ghana.

• An honorary fellowship conferred on her by the West African College of Nursing.

• Enstooled Queen Mother (Sompahemaa) of Nkoranza Traditional Area in Brong Ahafo Region with the stool name - Nana Akosua Fremaa Ampomah Sika I.

• Enstoolment as Development Queen of Bodom and Ampoma in the Brong Ahafo, and at Anloga in Kumasi, an Ashanti region of Ghana.

• Enstooled as the Queen Mother of Health in the Bole Traditional Area (Alanfiyawurche).

• Commendation by the United States Department report for 2013, for standing up and supporting the alleged witches in the Gambaga witch camp in the Northern region of Ghana.

Her biggest legacy, however, will be the Lordina Foundation, which has not only positively impacted thousands of lives all around Ghana but has redefined what the role of Ghana’s First Lady, both incumbent and former, should be. In doing so, Ghana continues to benefit tremendously.