About Us

The Story of Helping Hands

In 2004 Debbie Newman, the Founding Director, spent a year in Uganda as a teacher trainer. Whilst in the Kamuli District she encountered the love of God as she faced crowds of Ugandan children suffering for the lack of healthcare. There she began to hear His 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.

Helping Hands developed out of her response to all that she saw and felt God say. In consultation with her friends in Uganda and the UK she 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 to work with 1700 children in eight different school communities. As the numbers of children rose so the team of staff and volunteers has grown. This work is supported by a team in the UK where Helping Hands is based.

Over the next eighteen months 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.

See Helping Hands Extends to Help more Children in Uganda and also Helping Hands' UK Team.