About us

The Helping Hands Philippines (The HHP) is a Canadian charity dedicated to sustainably optimizing the health status of socioeconomically-disadvantaged populations in the Philippines. We strive to empower people with knowledge, by increasing health literacy and teaching people the art of using a resource-limited health care system.
Focusing on those living in impoverished environments in the Philippines, The HHP provides ongoing health education sessions tailored to the needs of each community. We also train our own local community health workers, called Focused Barangay Health Workers (FBHWs), in tandem with local volunteers and organizations, to provide sustainable health leadership in each community. What makes The Helping Hands Philippines different is our belief in sustainable change. We are focused on bolstering local champions and fostering long-term relationships with local health organizations and government units. Many hands can make great change! Please lend your helping hand today and donate to The Helping Hands Philippines!

History

The Helping Hands Philippines (The HHP) was born out of the horrible devastation of Super Typhoon Haiyan, and the lifelong friendship of Michael Bartucci (a Canadian family doctor and president of The HHP) and Rochelle de Leon (the lead local coordinator of The HHP). In 2005, Rochelle and Michael met while working/volunteering with a local Filipino NGO in Tacloban City, their friendship growing from a shared desire to sustainably aid the most vulnerable in society. In 2013, Michael and Rochelle’s paths crossed again when Super Typhoon Haiyan ravaged the Philippines, causing unprecedented deaths and widespread destruction in Tacloban City. The Helping Hands Philippines was then created to provide sustainable health care relief efforts to typhoon survivors in Tacloban. After almost 10 years, The HHP has evolved into an organization that provides sustainable health outreach and community health worker training to improve the health status of those living in poverty in the Philippines. ​

Programs

Community Outreach Program

Annually, The Helping Hands Philippines (The HHP) provides community health outreach program, including a free primary care consultation clinic (complete with free medications), as well as health education sessions tailored to the current needs and desires of our communities. This health outreach program usually spans 4 weeks and is primarily a way of engaging our target communities in our other sustainable interventions: our Health Education Teaching and our Community Health Worker Training programs

Health Education Teaching

The Helping Hands Philippines (The HHP) provides several health education/literacy sessions every month to our target communities, empowering our communities with health knowledge. Topics include (but are not limited to): nutrition counseling, the importance of exercise, dental health, the dangers of smoking/alcohol/drug usage, the usage and leveraging of existing government financial support programs, and reproductive health. A strong focus on bolstering the community’s health literacy is the key to reducing morbidity, mortality, and unaffordable healthcare spending due to largely preventable diseases.

Community Health Worker Training (Focused Barangay Health Worker Training)​

Barangay = the smallest unit of a community in the Philippines
Barangay Health Worker (BHW) = a basic health care provider in the Philippines that provides health care in their communities
Focused Barangay Health Worker (FBHW) = a BHW specially trained by The Helping Hands Philippines to provide focused, high-yield interventions in their communities
The training of community health workers is the cornerstone of our sustainable healthcare programing in the Philippines. In partnership with our communities, local doctors, and government units, The Helping Hands Philippines (The HHP) has created its own community health worker training program – the Focused Barangay Health Worker (FBHW) training program. We specially select individuals from our communities who show a great desire to help their fellow community members, and train them with our own materials to provide ongoing health education and health monitoring services in between our larger yearly community outreach sessions. The interventions of the FBHW are focused on being high-yield and preventative in nature, maximizing the healthcare impact of our FBHWs.

The duties of our FBHWs include:
  • Hypertension monitoring
  • Childhood immunization monitoring and advocacy
  • Childhood nutrition/growth monitoring and advocacy
  • Health education sessions
  • Safe and proper dispensing of free over-the-counter medications
  • Deworming eligible children and adults
  • Prenatal care
  • Emergency care
The role of our FBHWs is always evolving, and our future goals include a long-term research project on our FBHW intervention to determine the impact of this program. Your donations help to equip and train our FBHWs to support anywhere from 500-1000 patients each year! Donate now to support our Focused Barangay Health Workers and create sustainable healthcare change for those who need it most!
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