Our Inspiration

The African Orphans Foundation continues the mission of Louise Dana and La Piccola Casa di San Antonio. La Piccola Casa di San Antonio was an orphanage established in Italy over 50 years ago to help young girls orphaned by World War II.  In her memory, we have re-established her mission as the African Orphan’s Foundation to assist in an area in which the need is still great.

The U.N. has projected that by 2010, there will be 53.1 million children under 18 bereft of their parents and 15.7 million children of whom will have had parents who died of AIDS. Today there is no longer a need for La Piccola Casa di San Antonio in Italy, and it is our sincere hope that someday orphanages will no longer be needed in Africa.

About Louise Dana

Louise was born in Pontasserchio, near Pisa, Italy, on September 21, 1904. She was the first of three sisters and she and her family came to the United States in 1907.

Louise always had a special place in her heart for Italy.  She visited many times over the course of her life and was touched by the generosity and community Italians displayed towards each other. After witnessing the devastation that World War II caused Italy, and much of Europe, Louise felt compelled to aid and established La Piccola Casa di San Antonio. The compassion that Louise demonstrated towards the young women of the orphanage was something that she carried throughout her life and was what inspired her son, Don Dana, to begin African Orphans Foundation on the 50th anniversary of La Piccola Casa di San Antonio in 2003.