Lucy Hobgood-brown
(Mama Otaenga), founder

Lucy Hobgood-Brown’s career has included working as a journalist and university teacher, and she now fosters capacity-building projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she and Anne grew up. An Australian-American dual citizen, Lucy lives in Sydney and has Masters degrees in International Communication and International Social Development. In 2015 Lucy received Rotary International’s Global Woman of Action Award at the United Nations. 

Vera Sistenich (Mama Ntela)

Vera Sistenich is a board-certified, emergency medicine specialist in Australia, where her areas of interest are Aboriginal health, medical education and the development of physician training in the field of international emergency medicine. Outside Australia, she has clinical experience in China, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Vietnam and the UK. She has also worked with asylum seekers both at the Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre in the Australian Indian Ocean territories, and on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. In 2013-2014, she was Health Policy Advisor to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. She is HandUp Congo’s team leader for the Emergency Medicine Education Project.

Dr Grace Maano
(Mama Huguete Bombele)

Grace is a GP Specialist Fellow of the Australian College of Rural Remote Medicine (ACRRM) with an advanced diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.  She obtained her Medical Degree in the Philippines in 1999 and migrated to Australia in 2005. Since then, she has held various roles, including cruise ship and refugee camp doctor.  After obtaining her ACRRM fellowship as a Rural Generalist and GP Obstetrician in 2021, she started providing women's health services on the NSW Mid North Coast and then in rural Queensland.

She has travelled with the HandUp Congo volunteer teams several times, providing obstetric emergency and family planning training. It is her fervent hope to help reduce the staggeringly high maternal and newborn mortality rate in Africa, which is 100 times higher than Australia’s.  She is a member (and past president) of the Rotary Club of Taree in District 9660.  

Learn more about Grace and her practice of rural and remote medicine.

Cynthia Nadai (Mama Mboyo)

Cynthia Nadai is an American-Australian philanthropist.  Wherever she lives, she actively supports the community. Cynthia worked for the St James Ethics Centre (now The Ethics Centre) as Director of Operations and continues to work there as a volunteer ethics counsellor.  She has served as Chair of Good2Give, a not-for-profit promoting workplace giving in Australia. 

Robyn Hutchinson (Mama Bokajeanne)

Robyn Hutchinson has spent her life linking education with community development in Australia and Asia. Her passion is grassroots sustainable community development. Currently, she volunteers with the Reconciliation movement in Australia and supports HandUp Congo.

Désiré SAFARI Kanyena 

Désiré SAFARI Kanyena is based in Goma, capital of North Kivu Province and works closely with HandUp Congo. His areas of focus include assisting people displaced by conflict and are based on reflecting with communities on how to alleviate poverty and hunger, balance gender, and safeguard environment. He advises Congo’s Health Department in the area of community health.

Ruthy DeHolton
(Mama Luta)

Ruthy is one of HandUp Congo’s unpaid volunteer advisors who regularly travels to Congo to maintain relationships and further develop HandUp Congo projects.

“I am an American citizen who was born in Congo, and grew up here (mostly in the greater Bandundu province and then in Kinshasa).  I studied civil engineering at university, with the idea of coming back to work in Congo. 

After working in renewable energy in a few different countries, I went back to get a master’s in water and sanitation in the U.S. and then came back to work in Congo for a few years as an Assistant Peace Corps director, in charge of the water and sanitation program.  My work supervising the volunteers I had placed in different health zones had me travelling all around the country, to all the provinces several times over. 

After Congo, I went on to work for several years in Uganda as well with water and sanitation, as the country programme director for the British charity WaterAid.

I remade myself into a math teacher after having children, and when they were grown I returned to Congo, where I have been since 2015.  I teach math at TASOK, The American School of Kinshasa (where HandUp Congo co-founders Anne and Lucy Hobgood and I were all students). 

With my background in Congo and development work in general, my fluent French and (less fluent) Lingala, and because I currently live in Congo, I was asked to be an ambassador for HandUp Congo, which I have been thrilled to do.  I first went to Lotumbe in March 2023, and then again over the New Year’s holiday in 2024-2025.  I was very happy to renew friendships and relationships I had made on my first visit”.

Dr Michael Nest

“What appeals to me most about DRC is the people themselves: their creativity and ingenuity under adverse conditions, and the clarity with which they view and explain their lives”.

I’ve been lucky to stay engaged with Congo for over 30 years as a tourist, graduate student, policy researcher, guest lecturer, a consultant on development projects, writer, member of NGOs (working in DRC and the diaspora), and as a friend of Congolese. These different perspectives give me a sense of the nation’s complexity and dynamism, which is a lesson for anyone trying to understand the country.

I have authored three books about DR Congo, including Coltan, and worked on significant projects, including strengthening governance over the production and trade of minerals that help fuel conflict in Central Africa and advising the International Court of Justice on the illegal exploitation of natural resources in its landmark DR Congo v. Uganda court case.

Kiran Hutchinson (Mama Bofendji) 

Kiran Hutchinson is a community development advisor. 

"I feel I’m part of the wonderful Ubuntu spirit shared by everyone who works with and supports HandUp Congo around the world. I also enjoy working on HUC projects in Australia that involve Congolese refugees and participating in events that recognise their wonderful contributions".

Barbara DeGraff (Mama Manya)

Barbara is an online marketer who uses her skills to help not-for-profit organisations where money raised goes directly to those in need, and supports HandUp Congo because:

• Every dollar goes straight to where it’s needed most - none is spent on marketing or administration.

• The work is driven by local Congolese partners who truly understand their community’s needs.

• I believe in the strength of women and the impact of grassroots action.

In a world that often feels overwhelming, helping a woman take part in peace training feels like a powerful and hopeful choice.

Roma Mehta (Mama Ifuwa) 

Roma Mehta and Lucy Hobgood-Brown first connected in Taipei many years ago. When HandUp Congo was established, Roma designed the logo and continues to design collateral.