Meet the Board of Directors

I was born in Europe of Italian parents who immigrated to Canada.  My early years were spent in Drumheller, Alberta and in 1964 I graduated from the Misericordia School of Nursing in Edmonton, Alberta.  In 1970 went to Indonesia on a Canadian Government funded program under Care Medico to retrain medical personnel in Central Java.

There I met my future husband, Balachandran, an orthopedic surgeon from Singapore who was training doctors in orthopedic surgery.  We were married in 1972 and lived in Singapore for the next 30 years.

In year 2000 my husband passed away, leaving me with a dream and the means to get it started.

In 2002, I made plans to relocate from Singapore to Salt Spring Island, off the west coast of Canada. Before leaving Singapore, I set up a charitable foundation called Action For God’s Love. The purpose of the foundation was to help children in third world countries and am personally financially responsible for all projects through this foundation. It is exciting that we now have a registered Charity in Canada so contributors can receive a tax credit for their generous donation. 

While living on Salt Spring, I kept in touch with Father Vincent Lee, a Singaporean priest, who had done retreats in Africa.  He wanted me to get involved in “hands-on” projects in Africa. One of the first projects was a large prayer center in Uganda, but mostly we built prayer houses in Meru Diocese at the invitation of Rt. Rev. Bishop Salesius Mugambi.

I can honestly say I fell in love with Kenya and its people, especially the children and wanted to start a home for girls as they seemed to be the most needy.

In 2006 the construction of Our Lady off Grace Children’s Home was begun in Marimba on land donated by the Catholic Diocese of Meru.  The home opened in 2007 with 9 girls and is able to accommodate up to 150+ girls and range from ages 2 – 13 years who are in very vulnerable situations.

There is also a school (Kindergarten to Class 8) that the girls attend and are doing very well. Apart from the basic needs such as food, clothes, education and security, the children also get the love they have not had before as well as spiritual guidance with daily prayers and frequent attendance at Church.

I thank God for giving me the chance to make a difference in the lives of these girls.

He left the Island after high school and spent the next 10 years as a materials technician and inspector on heavy construction such as hydro dams, roads and bridges working in western Canada and overseas (Ethiopia).

For the past 30 years, until his retirement in 2006, he work at British Columbia Institute of Technology; the first 19 year teaching Civil Engineering (materials, highway design, Urban Planning and Subdivision Design).

Marsh was the Dean of Engineering and Academic Planning for 10 years. He finished his career at BCIT as the Vice President of Education. Marsh holds degrees in Engineering, Adult Education and Business. He has served on numerous boards both public and private. Through his tenure at BCIT Marsh worked extensively on international education projects mainly in China.

In addition to being a Director of Action for God’s Love, Marsh has held senior positions with volunteer and professional Associations. He was the chair of the North Salt Spring Water District and Finance Chair of the Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church and a long term member Salt Spring Toastmasters and the Applied Science Technicians and Technologists of BC.

Erika was born in Washington, DC and moved to Canada when she was very young.  After growing up in Port Alberni, Erika moved to Victoria BC and attend Camosun College a graduated with a Diploma in Criminal Justice.

Erika and her soon to be husband, Douglas Ponsford moved from Victoria to Toronto for better employment opportunities.   For the past 30 years Erika has been fund raising for many non-profit organizations in Canada and the United States.

Erika worked with one of the largest fund raising consulting firms in North America in Toronto Ontario where she was the Associate Director of Research and Information Management for Ketchum Canada Inc. and Associate Director of Research for the Rockefeller University in New York City.

In 2002, Erika and her husband Doug moved to Salt Spring Island, BC from NYC after the birth of their daughter Kate to be closer to their families. Shortly after moving to SSI, Erika and her husband ran a Bed and Breakfast called The Hale Eddy B&B.  They no longer run the B&B.  Currently Erika is the Program Coordinator for the Salt Spring Therapeutic Riding Association and a part time consultant for several non-profit organizations including Action for God’s Love.

Father Jules was the parish priest on Salt Spring Island for 10 years until 2010. It was there that he met Rita (the founder of Action For God’s Love). He was so inspired by what Rita had done for the girls in Kenya that he went on a 5 month trip to Kenya to volunteer on the project a few years ago.

He loved it so much and was so impressed with the impact this was having on the girls, that he didn’t want to leave!

As Father is fond of saying, Rita could have traveled the world in her retirement and instead invested her savings in helping these girls in need in Kenya.

Father Jules is retired from active ministry now; however he still prays daily for Rita and the girls, and his love and spirit have a beautiful impact on Action for God’s Love.

Lois was born in Cleveland, Ohio of Catholic parents and a very large clan.  Lois attended Miami University of Ohio and Michigan State University.   She taught English at several levels including university.

After moving to Canada, Lois worked in marketing and then the labour relations.  She was the Director of Personnel & Labour Relations at the British Columbia Institute of Technology,  and the Executive Director of Public Employers of BC.

Lois and her late husband owned a pub on Salt Spring Island, were active in the Order of St. Lazarus, Our Lady of Grace Church, Seaboard Life, the Granville Island Hotel, and the University, Vancouver and Union Clubs.  They were active in their church and did whatever there wasn’t a warm body to do.

She has held the positions of Finance Chairman, Liturgy Chairman and various other jobs, including secretary and church cleaning and organizing the building of the rectory (you might say we know the church from the inside out!).  As well, Lois is the Spiritual Chairman for the Catholic Women’s League, and recently a guest instructor for the diaconate in Vancouver.

Lois has a huge heart, is always cooking great dinners for many people, and is a true Giver.

Irv is a retired teacher/administrator living in Drumheller, AB with his wife Corinne.  After graduating from the University of Alberta with a BSc in Chemistry and a post graduate Certificate in Education, he began his thirty-five year career in Education beginning with two years teaching in Tanzania, East Africa, on a CUSO (originally Canadian University Services Overseas) posting.

Returning to Canada, he taught at the Drumheller Composite High School, where he also met his future wife.  Along with teaching, Irv became very involved with the Alberta Teachers Association, both locally, (President & Teacher Welfare offices), and provincially, (Economic Consultant, Pension Consultant, Peer Arbitration, etc.)  In 1990, Irv and Corinne took positions teaching for two years in an international school in Barranquilla, Colombia, SA.  Shortly after their return to Drumheller, he became the Principal at the Drumheller Outreach School, an alternative program for students with varied educational needs.

At retirement, he became the Health & Safety Officer for the GH School Division, a program he developed and administered for five years.  When Corinne retired, they were invited to work for an international school system based in London.  Corinne returned to the classroom for three more years (in an International Baccalaureate program in Montenegro, part of the former Yugoslavia), while Irv was employed as a consultant, developing policy and administrative procedures for schools in Europe and South America, a position he held for five years.

With respect to AFGL, both Corinne and Irv have been fortunate to work with the Founder, (Mama) Rita Balachandran for quite a number of years.  They are currently planning their fourth trip to Our Lady of Grace Home & School in Marimba, Kenya.  Corinne has been working with students and teachers, providing instructional support, teaching materials and program delivery.  Irv has worked more on the administrative side of both the school & home, assisting Rita in developing policy and procedures, labour contracts, staffing, etc., and ensuring adherence to Kenyan laws.