Berkley Center

Background: Sister Anthonia Orji is a Nigerian Catholic sister belonging to the Daughters of Sacred Passion (DSP). In 2012, she moved to Ghana as the first missionary from her congregation. Sr. Orji manages the Rays of Hope Center in Accra, which helps vulnerable children and young people access education, reintegrate into society, and lead an autonomous, fulfilled life. She spoke with Luisa Banchoff via Zoom on April 23, 2025, prior to a two-week training program at Georgetown University as part of the Women Faith Leaders Fellowship. In their conversation, Sr. Orji discussed her upbringing in Lagos, her journey to becoming a Catholic sister, and her passion for helping children, young people, and women pursue their dreams and positively impact society. She reflected on her deep commitment to women and girls’ empowerment and the importance of addressing the root causes of streetism in Ghana, most notably poverty.

Bio: Sister Anthonia Orji, DSP, is a member of Georgetown University’s Women Faith Leaders Fellowship 2024-2025 cohort. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, Sr. Orji studied in Nigeria and Rome before relocating to Accra, Ghana, where she has lived and worked for over a decade. She has master’s degrees in educational leadership and management and in counseling psychology. In Accra, she manages the Rays of Hope Center, which helps street children access education and reintegrate into society. She also works as an education officer at Rays of Hope, helping children develop aspirations for their life and enrolling them in schools and vocational programs. Sister Orji has a passion for empowering people and speaking on behalf of marginalized groups, especially women and girls.

To begin, could you tell me a bit about yourself?

My name is Sister Anthonia Orjii, from the Congregation of the Daughters of Sacred Passion. I'm a missionary who came from Nigeria to Ghana to work. I have been in the religious life for about 18 years. I earned a bachelor’s degree in education management, and a master’s degree in educational leadership and management. I earned a second master’s in counseling psychology. I have also had the opportunity to travel to some parts of the world, which has helped me develop as a person.

Since 2012, I have worked in Ghana as a pastoral and social worker. I currently work with vulnerable and marginalized children from the street, including young girls and boys. I am multi-tasking a lot in my work. In the pastoral setting, I work with the church council and leadership of the parish. I teach catechism and also counsel young couples who are about to get married. I also support in ensuring that the liturgy is well-prepared. I work with lectors in the church who engage in reading every Sunday. I also work as a baker. It is something I love to do, because it has to do with the joy of working with my hands. I'm able to produce lots of pastries and cakes, and I am passionate about using this to impact society as well.

Where did you grow up? Were you raised Catholic?

I'm from a family of seven. I was born in Lagos. I had all my educational background in Lagos, from the basic level to the university, before I become a sister. I was raised in a Catholic home. I come from a Catholic family. My parents were not so religious, but we did the basic things. We attended Sunday mass. They went to their regular church group, but we were not always in the church.

As time went on, I learned about other religious groups and their beliefs. I have worked closely with Adventists, Anglicans, Muslims, and the Church of Pentecost. As a counselor, I’ve also had the opportunity to meet a lot of people from various religious backgrounds.

What was your journey to becoming a Catholic sister?

The journey of my vocation started as a young girl. Growing up, I had this dream of being a university lecturer or working in the financial system. That is what motivated me to go into accounting. But I didn't know that God actually had his own plan, and it was a completely different thing.

When I was going to senior high school, what was then called secondary school, I started having this desire of living a very quiet, separate life. I started thinking: what will it take to dedicate my life to God? But I never shared these thoughts with anyone. It was difficult for me to express this desire to anyone. I didn't want to think about it.

One day I went to Sunday Mass and saw a sister preparing for mass. That piqued my interests, and I kept having these thoughts. So one day I went to my father to say, in a very informal way, that I would love to be a nun. My father’s first question was: what did you see that made you want to be a nun? I told him that I didn’t see anything, but I just had this desire. The first thing my father told me was that it's not possible.

After that conversation, I didn't talk about it again for a very long time. Then, after finishing senior high school, I went to my father to talk about it again. My father said no again. He told me that he thought I was going to be a very strong woman, that I was going to work and be independent. We have only one male child in a family of seven, and my father saw me as a male child. He didn't understand why I was thinking of being a nun. I personally also didn’t understand it. So my father gave me a challenge. He told me to go to university and study accounting. If, when I was done studying, I still wanted to be a nun, then he will know that is what God wants.

I went to Lagos State Polytechnic and studied accounting. After my first two years at university, I applied to a congregation and went to a “Come and See” program for one year at a convent. When I got there, I met with a lot of challenges from some of the sisters. You expect somebody who wants to be sister to be pious, but I was not that. I wouldn't say I'm a spiritual person or religious person. I was just having an open mind. The sisters at the convent didn’t understand why I wanted to become a sister. One of the sisters said, “Who advised you that you should be a nun? Who gave you that thought because you don't have the charisma.” So this was really a huge problem for me.

After staying in the convent for one year, I told my father I wanted to complete my university education. My father replied: “I knew you were not going to go to be a nun.” I completed my university and then went back to the convent. Along the way, I traveled to Rome for my formation. I studied at the Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences Auxilium, run by the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco. I had my first profession of vows there. My father still did not believe I was serious. I think he only believed it when I made my final vows.

Tell me about your congregation, the Daughters of Sacred Passion. Why did you join this particular congregation?

The Daughters of Sacred Passion was founded by Dorothy Mboun in 2009. We mainly focus on education and meeting the needs of vulnerable and marginalized young people. We also have a family life apostolate, which includes marriage counseling, as well as a hospital apostolate.

I was attracted to the Daughters of Sacred Passion because of their family apostolate and their focus on vulnerable young people. The first time I met with the foundress, I was inspired by her dream and her vision of giving hope to the youth. But like I said, I believe that the vocation comes from God.

What brought you to Ghana, and are there other members of your congregation in the country?

I came to Ghana to complete my education, because the education system in Nigeria was not stable. When I came to Ghana, it wasn't easy, because it isn’t my country of origin. It was a complete new world. I came to understand the culture, the people, the food.

The Daughters of Sacred Passion were founded in Nigeria and are present in different parts of Nigeria and in Cameroon. But I was the first missionary that came to Ghana. Currently, there are two of us who live in the community in Ghana. I work at the Rays of Hope Center and the other sister works at a school.

Tell me more about the Rays of Hope Center. What is its mission, and what is your role there?

The Rays of Hope Center is a center for young people, especially vulnerable and marginalized ones from the street. We believe that every child deserves education and has the right to go to school. We are in a part of the world where not everybody has access to school yet. During the day, you see children selling things in the street, or children who don’t even know that the school exists. And the parents don't care. The child is struggling and has to fend for himself. This is where Rays of Hope comes in to ensure that every child can go to school. Rays of Hope has staff who meet and recruit these children.

I play two major roles at Rays of Hope, as the center manager and as an education officer. As an education officer, I monitor the development of young people in school and the way forward for them in life after school. I ensure that every child we meet is enrolled in school. I also ensure that we are getting school uniforms, books, shoes, and all the basics the child needs for school. When the child has started in school, I monitor what happens: if the child is learning or not, what challenges the child is facing. I also play a counseling role. I have one-on-one conversations with each child to know what their desires and aspirations are in life. What do they want to become? Sometimes young people don't have realistic goals. I want to have a conversation with each child to see how best the child can fit into the society. The long-term goal is for the child to become an independent person and to make a positive impact on the society.

I am also responsible for the daily operation of the center and the development of the staff members. I ensure the staff members are all working together as a team with a common purpose. I also liaise with the stakeholders, by which I mean the schools. I talk to the schools to ensure that both the interests of the child and the interests of the center are being heard. I also look at the informal sector of education. This informal sector has to do with the learning of skills, especially for young people who are not interested in staying in school or in attending higher education.

In my line of work, I meet a lot of young people from the streets. It is not their fault that they are unable to go to school. The children may have contributing factors, but the society plays a major role from the beginning that makes the child not have an interest in going to school. The young people are looking for their place in the society. This is common to every street child I meet.

What are the underlying causes and factors of the issue of street children in Accra?

First, we must not forget poverty. I believe that poverty cannot be completely eradicated, but it can be minimized. Another cause is inequality in the society. We don't all have equal rights. Another thing is the family background of the child, the environment where the child was brought up. They are often pushed onto the street because of problems at home. Most of the children come from a broken home. When there is a broken home, the child has to struggle to survive. This creates a lot of anger in the child. The child might use force and can become harmful to the society.

What, in your view, needs to change in how the government and society handles this issue?

Before we get to the government, I would like to start at the grassroots, with the people. Young people in our society in Ghana need to know that bringing a child into the world comes with responsibility. I would like there to be more education on that. If you're unable to send a child to school, the parents should be held responsible. So that they don’t view education as a matter of personal preference: “If I like, the child will go to school, and if I don’t like, they child will not go.”

With regards to the government, I think we need to look at issues of employment and poverty. Many people cannot meet their basic needs. If you cannot do that, you cannot provide for a child, so the child is going to be pushed to the streets.

Then there are the schools. The government is saying there is free education, but in reality, it is not free. When parents send their children to the school, the schools ask for a certain amount, and the parents end up saying they cannot pay. And so the children have to drop out and stay at home.

I would love there to be more emphasis on the importance of education. It shouldn't be a one-time thing that we talk about. It’s not about going to the radio stations to talk about it one time. It's about going to the grassroots. We have a lot of government agencies who are responsible for these tasks, but most of the time they are not on the ground to do it, probably because of a lack of resources, a lack of personnel. We have a lot of policies, but they are not being implemented.

I am passionate about these issues. When I go out during the day, if I see a child selling things at an odd hour, I ask them, why are you not in school? Who are your parents? What is the issue? Sometimes the issue is not something big, sometimes it’s a small issue. I have a conversation with the child. I also talk to heads of school and talk about the reasons children are not in school. It could be because of teenage pregnancy; it could be because of HIV. There could be a whole lot of harm that happens to the child. And this is someone in our society, so we can't afford to waste that child.

How do you engage with parents?

Different parents have different dynamics. When you find a child on the street and ask them why they are not in school, there are some that tell you they couldn’t go to school because their parents say they don't have money. I try to find time to speak to the parents. I exchange pleasantries with them. I tell them that I met their child the other day. Most of the time they listen, because I'm a nun. A religious sister is very easy to be listened to. The people have this trust and believe in the Catholic sisters. Most of the time they calm down and explain their challenge to me. If it is a challenge in the school, then I offer to go to the school with them. When I give them different options, then they are willing. In my experience, 80% of the parents are willing. I go with them to see the head of the school or the teacher.

If I meet a parent who does not want their child to go to school and, after a long talk, they still do not want to, then I need to talk to social welfare so that we can collaborate and see how best to address the situation. But most of the time, once the parents notice that I’m a Catholic sister, it is far easier. They listen and they want to pour out their heart to me. I often discover that it is not only the child that is having a problem. It is the mother or the family that is having it. We are able to talk about it and see how best we can help.

Sometimes parents come to visit the center. They want to see me and have a conversation. I try as much as possible to listen, talk about their issue, and see what the solutions are. I love to listen in detail when I conversations with them.

You mentioned your passion for women and the girl child. How do you incorporate it into your work at the Rays of Hope Center?

I have a deep passion to empower women and the girl child. I come from a family of women. It’s one of the things that has inspired me, this love for women. When you help a woman, you help a multitude of people. When I meet women and they don't have self-confidence, I try to encourage them. I give them examples of women who are heroes and who were able to make a life out of nothing, in order to build their confidence. When I meet the parents of the children and they talk about their challenges, I encourage them, and I tell them we can do this together, one step at a time. All we need is your hand.

In the street, we help both boys and girls, and I have this special desire to help girls. When I meet a girl child in the street, I have to go back because the girls is more vulnerable on the streets than the boys. Some girls in this senior high school whom I have helped, and I am happy and proud that they are working and doing well. At every point I try to talk with women and girls. I try to have a sit-down with them to see what actually their dream is, what is their desire. What are they going through as young people, and how can we help them. We mentor these young people to see them become who they are.

I can't end this conversation without saying a very big thank you to the Women Faith Leaders Fellowship. I'm hoping to impact other vulnerable women and girl children. I’m looking forward to seeing more women helping women, and girl children helping other girl children.