Changing lives through self-sustained education. Orphans Africa (OA) is a 501 (c) 3 tax-exempt charitable organization that began in 2007 with the coming together of three ordinary people whose desire was to build peace between nations by providing assistance to those who are most vulnerable. Orphans Africa operates three schools according to a model of self-sustainability. Meaning, that once the school is operational, fully constructed, and registered with the government, it is capable of supporting itself. OA’s model combines tuition-paying students with fully-dependent orphan students. Tuition received from parents of non-orphan students covers the costs of teachers’ salaries, school operation, plus the room and board of the orphans. Also, by combining non-orphans with orphans, social stigmas and prejudices are reduced as opposed to being reinforced through orphan-only schools.