Help a Child is a Christian, international non-profit organization, founded in The Netherlands in 1968. Help a Child provides a future for children in poverty, their families and their entire communities. We collaborate with various Dutch, international and local organizations.
Our corporate identity
Our mission
Help a Child provides a future for children in need, their family and their entire community. We consciously choose to help children in the place where they live, because we believe that God intentionally places children in families and communities, and that this place is the best place for them to grow up. While the child is at the center of our approach, both the family and the entire environment of the children also have the opportunity to overcome poverty.
Why do we fight against poverty?
Every day, thousands of children die as a result of poverty. This reality is unacceptable! That’s why we take action. We believe that together we can make a difference for children in poverty. And it turns out our sustainable approach works; the result of our approach is that children literally ‘grow’ out of poverty. As a donor, you give temporarily, but you change the situation permanently. This motivates us to help even more children.
Where do we fight against poverty?
At the moment, we are fighting against poverty in India, Kenya, Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Somalia and the DR Congo.
What is our ambition?
Help a Child is a relatively small organization with great ambitions: to support as many children as possible to grow out of poverty. Our dream is to make ourselves redundant. This might sound peculiar, but think about it: wouldn’t it be wonderful if no more children would die due to the consequences of poverty? If parents worldwide could provide their children with a future? We all work hard to achieve that, in collaboration with our partners and with the support of our donors and networks. We are grateful to notice that our work is making an impact: many children, youth and parents now have hope for the future. We continue to pray and work towards making this group even larger. We hope that one day we can conclude: our work is no longer needed!
Our vision
As a Christian non-profit organization Help a Child wants every child – regardless of their social, political, religious, ethnic or economic background – to have a life in dignity, with love and with a promising future.
Help a Child is there for all children living in poverty. After all, every child is a unique gift from God and that is the foundation upon which Help a Child operates. Our Christian identity is reflected in various ways in our work:
- our staff members work from a Christian conviction;
- we collaborate with local churches and Christian partner organizations;
- in our training programs, we incorporate Bible verses or Christian examples whenever possible when imparting knowledge.
Our corporate values
We support children and families in need, because we follow Jesus Christ, who showed us God’s love for mankind. The Bible teaches us to pass on God’s love, to be merciful, to bring justice, to reconcile and to be good stewards. These Christian principles inspire us to give our best in all circumstances. Our corporate values are:
We value every child
We believe that every child is a unique gift from God, made in His image. We include all children, no matter their background, religion or abilities.
We empower people
We encourage children, youth, and adults to use their God-given abilities. We strengthen community structures and mobilize local resources.
We are faithful
We are trustworthy and accountable to the ones we support and the ones supporting us. We use our resources wisely, effectively, and efficiently.
We embrace partnership
We work with others based on equality and respect. We are loyal and honest and expect the same from our partners.
We learn and adjust
We are open-minded and eager to learn. We appreciate feedback and we learn from our mistakes.
Our history
Help a Child began with a letter. That letter came from India and described the dreadful poverty which children there had to endure. Its recipients were Hans and Anky Rookmaaker, who heard in it the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ:
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Anky Rookmaaker set about making connections with people in India who also heard the Lord’s call and who wanted to help. She made connections with people here in the Netherlands who would be willing to contribute the necessary resources. Together with Mr. Slothouber, she and her husband founded ‘Stichting Redt een Kind’ on 28 March 1968.
55 years later
Now, 55 years later, Help a Child continues to work in areas with a high incidence of poverty or in places where children and families are extra vulnerable due to disasters or (imminent) conflicts. We not only operate in India, but also in Kenya, Burundi, Malawi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Somalia and the DR Congo. In these countries, we implement our approach; a sustainable method that makes a difference in the short term and creates an impact in the long term. Our reason to exist are the vulnerable children and families we want to support, but our right to exist is the loyal group of supporters that have enabled us already for more than 55 years to do our work on their behalf.
What we believe
Every child is a unique gift from God
We aim for
A promising future for every child
How we work