A week at FOCOS with award-winning interior decorator and former patient of CEO
Exactly a week ago, Bahia Akerele an award-wining interior decorator and former patient of Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei visited the hospital as part of activities to mark her tenth anniversary after her successful surgery which was supervised by the FOCOS CEO at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York.
Commenting about her connection with Prof. Boachie-Adjei, Bahia said, “After several consultations at different hospitals, I settled on Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) because of their number one status for orthopedic surgeries in the USA and this project was led by Prof. Boachie” she explained.
As part of her visit, she donated gift items including paints, brushes, glue and books to the children after which she filmed a short documentary with them. She was accompanied by her son and mum on the visit. During her visit, she was taking on a facility tour by Nana Kwame Fordjour the Development Manager and also taught the children how to make creative artworks and paintings at the Wayne and Claire Heyland’s children block. Also, during her week-long visit, she did a creative finger painting project with the children at the J.B hostel.
Recounting her experience after working at the hospital with the kids, she said, “I was so humbled when I thought about my own experience as a former patient and I look at the traumatic effect that Scoliosis has had on the children at FOCOS and the amount of work being done by the entire team at FOCOS in meeting the various needs of the children on admission at the hospital,”
Bahia thanked donors who had made contributions to FOCOS and edged them to sponsor to support the FOCOS vision because she felt their contributions had visibly translated into making a positive impact in the lives of many. She commended Prof Boachie and his team for their tremendous work.
Bahia holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Africana Studies from Connecticut College and a master’s degree in Social Work from University of Connecticut. She is a Fellow, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York. Prior to her current position as the owner of On the Purple Couch LLC, she worked as a consultant with the Annie E Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland where she worked to give children a better future and empower families economically for about seven years. She is currently a member of a lifestyle and home décor TV segment on FOX 5 Washington DC.