Supporting Joy Village
Joy Village is both an inner space and an outer place: a vision of the love, wisdom, creativity, and compassion that can arise within us, and a community in Ebe, Nigeria committed to helping people live with dignity, care, and belonging.
Joy Village was founded by Father Charles Ogada, a Nigerian Catholic priest, spiritual teacher, and humanitarian. From an early age, Father Charles was drawn to spiritual inquiry and a life of service. His work brought together Christian contemplative practice, the non-dual wisdom of Advaita Vedanta, and a deep commitment to interfaith understanding.
In 2010, he founded the Spiritan Self Awareness Initiative (SSAI), a Nigerian non-profit humanitarian organization dedicated to partnering with rural communities to build values-based, caring communities known as Joy Villages.
SSAI’s work is guided by a “Triple Care” approach, which addresses three interconnected areas of community life:
Sociocare — supporting social wellbeing and community care
Educare — strengthening access to education and learning
Medicare — supporting health needs and access to care
Father Charles died in March 2022, but his vision and work continue through the leadership of his sister, Chidinma, and her husband, Emmanuel, together with the wider SSAI community.
Donations support SSAI programs and the ongoing work of Joy Village in Ebe, Nigeria.
To learn more about the organization and its work, visit Joy Village.
Donations are collected in a Canadian USD account administered by volunteers and transferred periodically to support the work of Joy Village and SSAI in Ebe, Nigeria. Donations are not tax-receiptable in Canada.
Spiritan Self Awareness Initiative (SSAI) is a non- profit organisation (NGO) registered with the Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development, Government of Enugu State (ENS/MGASD/SWD/315), the Ministry of Budget and National Planning Commission, Abuja (NPC/NGO-IC/S.424/1), and with the Corporate Affairs Commission, Abuja (CAC/IT/NO 43828) under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, No. 1, 1990.
Make a one time donation to Joy village:
Make recurrent monthly donations to joy village:
Why Give?
Make a Difference
Your donation helps create real, measurable change in the lives of those we serve. Over 530,000 meals have been served so far with 800 meals served per day to school children. Thousands of students have been educated and thousands of patients served for free every month in the Aruike specialty hospital.
Be Part of the Solution
Join a community of people working together to address the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of a community with love and joy.
Inspire Others
Your generosity can motivate friends, family, and colleagues to do the same.
Our Positive Impact
530,000+ Meals Served
164,000+ Patients Treated
