Helping Hand’s student-only branch launched

A group of students from the Afrikaans higher education institution Akademia will soon enter communities across the country to uplift others.

According to project co-ordinator Benette Welman, Helping Hand has just established a national branch consisting of students only.

On Thursday, the branch for Akademia students, the Akademia Heroes, was announced during an event at Akademia’s Centurion campus.

“During this event, Akademia students were briefed on Helping Hand’s focus and projects, while Ivan Roux provided entertainment.

“Many volunteers subsequently undertook to get involved in their communities and be the difference they want to see,” Welman said.

Antoinette Deysel, Helping Hand’s deputy CEO of community development, said the holistic well-being of their people was important to them.

“Helping Hand’s mission is to promote socially based community development through sustainable development programmes, projects, training, networking and resource development so that people are shaped by their community,” said Deysel.

“The aim is to become developed, self-contained, self-responsible and optimally functioning, resulting in healthy, functioning communities.

“With the establishment of a national branch for Akademia students, we promote the co-operation of two institutions to provide students with the opportunity to develop holistically. That is within an established structure to become well-balanced, self-employed and productive community members.”

She said the organisation made it possible for those students to use their strengths for the benefit of the community.

“Each of us has God-given talents that we can use to facilitate the development process using sustainable projects.”

Deysel said the students had a positive and passionate approach and Helping Hand looked forward to sending them into communities in order to develop and support them.

“Full-time and distance students can get involved with Akademia Heroes in their direct communities as project leaders and volunteers,” she said.

“We will soon appoint project leaders at every Akademia study centre who can take on projects with Helping Hand in their area. The branch is guided to join the safe structure of Helping Hand within which they can initiate and execute projects.”

May-li Swanepoel, a third-year student at Akademia and the Heroes’ chairperson, said the establishment of the branch had created exceptional energy among students and they were excited to become involved in communities.

“It is incredible for us to see the pandemic bringing together different people with the same passion for community upliftment and how hope is can be brought to the hopeless.

“We want to redesign the picture students have of community engagement and convey the heart of Helping Hand in such a way that it will resonate with the students,” Swanepoel said, adding that the inspiration for the branch’s name came from the words from the song “Superhero” by the band Eden.

“To enable the Akademia Heroes to go out and be the difference they want to see, sign up at www.akademiahand.co.za.

“You can also make a one-time donation at www.helpendehand.co.za with AKA02 as reference.”

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