Our Story
In 2006, Jim Sullivan, a retired minister and businessman, made a pilgrimage to Ghana, West Africa. There he witnessed the desperate condition of the country with its widespread and unimaginable poverty, the overwhelming lack of basic infrastructure, a virtually non-existent education system, poor access to health care, and little opportunity for jobs. Jim returned to the U.S. intent on finding a way to help.
In 2007, Operation Dignity International (ODI) was launched. The first year was spent building a foundation for ODI’s work in Ghana, organizing a board of directors, and developing a mission and vision based on Jim’s discovery’s and conversations on his trip.
Mission & Vision
Operation Dignity International desires to invest in the people of Ghana by developing and equipping their cultural leaders. They then become the change agents in their communities. ODI can help them by closing the information gap and fostering positive change by providing tools and resources for enterprise development, health and human services, technology, and virtue-based leadership. These elements will drive community development and serve as the vehicles for reducing systemic poverty, increasing employment opportunities, improving healthcare, and ultimately, enabling Ghanaians to become self-sufficient.
Life in Ghana
The country of Ghana is settled on the West African coast just above the equator and right on the prime meridian. It is about the size of the state of Oregon and was occupied by the Dutch and Portuguese early in history. Eventually they were colonized by the British but in 1953 Ghana declared its independence from Britain and began the process of sorting out ethical leaders who truly had the best interest of the country at heart. This process has been a struggle and Ghana is a current-day example of a young, growing, and vulnerable democracy. It struggles to develop its resources, expand its economy, and provide a more excellent standard of living for its people while still honoring its culture, traditions, and history, all in the midst of a quickly changing and dynamic global economy.