Maria Ngafa a retired midwife in Cameroon successfully raised 11 orphans along with her own children. These orphans had no place to call home, no food, and were out of school before she took them under her care. Nevertheless there are still thousands of orphans that are in the same situation in Cameroon. She founded this organization to get more people involved by providing their skills, financial and material contributions so that more innocent orphans could get basic needs such as a home family, food, education, and protection that every child deserves. On her deathbed one of her biggest worries was the wellbeing of orphans and abandoned children.

Ruth is from Arlington VA, daughter of the founder of Action for Hope. The creation of this organization was motivated by my direct involvement with orphans and abandoned children adopted by my mother. Most of my adopted brothers and sisters were homeless and dying from hunger when my mother brought them in, but they quickly became happy children after they started receiving basics needs, nurturing and protection.

Growing up with biological and adopted brothers and sisters was a revealing and enriching experience for us. We were a proud and happy family. We grew up with the spirit of compassion, kindheartedness, sacrifice and sharing.

Just before her death, our mother asked us to promise her that we will reach out to humanity by assisting poor children. Following in her footstep, we founded Action for Hope (www.action4hope.org) with the help of American citizens to provide assistance to orphans and underprivileged children.

Mike Adissa has been CEO of A&R Tax for the past nine years. He attended Langston University in Oklahoma where he received his BS in accounting. He received his MSC in accounting and an MBA from Oklahoma City University. He worked with Harold Johnson as a CPA for four years. Mr. Adissa worked as an auditor for the Internal Revenue Services and the Department of Labor. He worked as a D.C. Government staff auditor for 7 years before becoming CEO of A&R Tax.

AFH Cameroon Project Director

Joseph V. Ntangsi is an economist. He obtained his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and is a Senior Fellow of Harvard University. His work experience includes 12 years as an economist at the World Bank Group and 4 years as the Representative and Director of the KfW German Developing Bank in Cameroon. Since August 2008, he has been an Eminent Scholar and Professor of Economics at Troy University in Alabama, USA.

George D. Miller is a non-profit management specialist. He attended Wheaton College in Illinois. He worked for 19 years in the hotel industry as a property turn-around specialist. One day he was touched to hear the story of a hotel guest who was accompanied by a daughter he adopted from an orphanage in Africa. He told him about the hardship and the suffering most orphans had to go through after losing their parents. He was so proud and grateful that he had gotten his daughter out of miseries. Since George also had a passion for helping children, the story made him engage in non profit work helping poor children faster than he had planned. He went ahead and trained in not-for- profit management and had been volunteering in many non- profits before he found this great organization Action for Hope that helps orphans and abandoned children in Cameroon where he now serves as the Executive Director. The experience has been great to see the impacts/benefits/changes to orphans and impoverished children, as a result of their participation in our program.

Doctor Joseph Barakeh received his D.O. from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where he received a Chancellor’s Award. He was also on the Dean’s and Chancellor’s List for all semesters. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Emory University, Atlanta, GA.

He was Chief Resident of the Department of Ophthalmology at George Washington University Medical Center, Washington D.C and is now an ophthalmological surgeon in Walnut Creek, CA.

He has a passion for helping people, particularly, disadvantaged children.

Jerry Ice received his doctor’s degree in educational administration from Fordham University, New York.

Prior to coming to the Graduate School, Dr. Ice served as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Thomas Edison State College, New Jersey, for eighteen years. He held executive leadership positions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Montclair State University, New Jersey.

He is the tenth President/CEO of the Graduate School since the School’s inception in 1921. The Graduate School serves nearly 200,000 individuals in nearly 1,000 courses/programs. Based in Washington, D.C., the School delivers training and education programs throughout the United States and around the world. Additional Graduate School offices are located in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Philadelphia, Honolulu and San Francisco.

Dr. Ice serves as Chair of Board of Trustees of Mountain State University in Beckley, West Virginia; Member of the President’s Council, Excelsior College in Albany, New York; and Member of the Advisory Council of Penn Foster College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. His educational memberships include the American Council on Education, The University of Professional and Continuing Education Association, The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, Culture-link, and The Institute for Advanced International Studies and Research.

In addition, Dr. Ice has served on military installation voluntary education review teams, Middle States commission of colleges and universities review teams, and consultant review teams of international education programs in Japan, South Africa, England, Italy, and Germany.