About us
The Helping Hands team
Helping Hands was founded in January 2016 by Daniélla Rodrigues and Yvonne Helland. The main purpose of this organisation is to give children and youth access to education, and the project is based in Tanzania. Our project manager Gladness Andrew Massawe runs our projects on a day to day basis in Tanzania.
We also have many amazing volunteers with us in Norway that help us with projects, events, and fundraisers. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you! Read more about how you can contributehere.
Our history
When Daniélla went to Tanzania to work as a volunteer in an orphanage, she met several people in difficult situations. She started fundraising from friends and family back home, but found out that it wasn't enough. She needed help. She had to do this properly, she had to start up on her own. The natural choice of partner fell to Yvonne, and so they founded Helping Hands when they were both only 20 year old students.
From the left: Daniélla, Gladness and Yvonne
Gladness - the heart of the organization
Nothing of this would be possible if Daniélla hadn't gotten in touch with Gladness. Gladness has great knowledge of the local community - she knows the people, she speaks the language. With the funding Daniélla and Yvonne raised in Norway, it was possible for Gladness to find the families in the area with need for an extra hand on the way. She is responsible for all the employees that work for us in Tanzania.
Gladness is an extremely capable woman, who is passionate about people and her local community. She has follow ups on all the children in school and their families. She checks that everybody is all right, and follows up if anyone falls sick and need help, or if the children are missing anything for school. She has also chosen to take in children from difficult families in her own home in addition to her own three children that she is taking care of. Where there is heart, there is home, according to Gladness. But Gladness has mostly the first.
Gladness — the heart of Helping Hands, we wouldn't be anywhere without you.