Helping Hands Project
Helping Hands’ History.
In 2004 Debbie Newman, the Founding Director of Helping Hands, spent a year in Uganda as a teacher trainer with Annie Crowe and Mabel Naigaga. Whilst in the Kamuli District she faced crowds of Ugandan children suffering for the lack of healthcare. There she began to hear God’s cry for the individual child and a clear call to do something practical in response.
Helping Hands’ History.
In 2004 Debbie Newman, the Founding Director of Helping Hands, spent a year in Uganda as a teacher trainer with Annie Crowe and Mabel Naigaga. Whilst in the Kamuli District she faced crowds of Ugandan children suffering for the lack of healthcare. There she began to hear God’s cry for the individual child and a clear call to do something practical in response.
This has remained her motivation ever since and it has become a foundational value in all that we do and plan.
In consultation with her friends in Deliverance Church in Uganda and the UK Debbie began to form a team and shape a healthcare programme based on interactive lessons for young children and the provision of free medical treatment and essential disease prevention measures. Initially, Helping Hands employed only one nurse, Joy Kabanda, to work with 1700 children in eight different school communities. As the numbers of children have risen and the vision has expanded so the team of staff and volunteers has grown. Pastor Sam Mugote is the Chairman of the Executive Committee which oversees the practicalities of the project.
This work is supported by a team in the UK where Helping Hands is based as a registered charity.
In 2010 Helping Hands was registered as a community Based Organisation in its own right but continues to work in partnership with the Deliverance Church schools in Kamuli District. Over the next two years Helping Hands has plans to work with three more school communities on the mainland and begin to pilot a project on one of the islands on Lake Victoria.
What we do:
Helping Hands cares for disadvantaged children in the poorest rural communities of Uganda, helping them to see their value and begin to care for themselves and others. We do this through:
• Fun and interactive health lessons which help children to tackle the threats of common diseases like malaria and AIDS.
• Simple disease prevention measures like Mosquito nets, hand-washing cans and latrines.
• Regular school visits from our mobile health team who carry all the essentials to treat the children.
Helping Hands makes a difference to child health in Uganda
Helping Hands is a Christian charity which draws people together to make a difference in the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children in Uganda. We work on the belief that every child matters to God and we aim to demonstrate this through practical healthcare to those children in need. From small beginnings in May 2004 we have grown through our relational network in Uganda, the UK and beyond. The day to day work in Uganda is carried out by local men and women as we believe that is good practice. We aim to increase our team over the next two years so as to reach out into more communities with vital health messages.
You can support a new health educator to work part-time in one of our communities by giving £25 a month. You could support a health worker for a year by doing a sponsored event and raising £300. See Giving to children in Uganda.
Meet one of the team
Joy Kabanda is our longest serving member of staff, having been with us since the very beginning in 2004. She is a wonderful Team Leader in Uganda with years of experience in nursing and community health education. Joy lives up to her name everyday as she sings and dances with the children, inspiring them to learn how to care for themselves.
Joy is married to Sam, a local pastor in Kamuli Town, and together they have three older children called David, Abraham and Esther. Since her involvement with Helping Hands Joy has learnt how to ride a motorbike and is currently learning how to swim (could be handy for island work!)
Contacts
Helping Hands
45 Meadow Close
Farmoor
Oxfordshire
OX2 9PA
Or email us at the office
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web: http://www.helpinghands-uk.org/