We are currently active on four continents and in 14 countries. Our goal: to help as quickly and efficiently as possible. How does this work? Thanks to our partners in the countries where we are active! They speak the local language, are well networked, have important contacts and, above all, they are always on site. To get to know our so-called “Supporters on Site” better, we will introduce them to you in our new interview series.
One of them is Angelika Gritzmann, a Polish native who came to Germany with her parents and younger sister when she was 12. She now lives in Tanzania and runs the organization Waisenkinder Tansania e. V..
STELP: Introduce yourself briefly: Who are you and in which country do you work with STELP?
Angelika: My name is Angelika Gritzmann, I am the founder and chairman of the board of Waisenkinder Tansania e.V.. We have been working with STELP in Tanzania since 2021.
STELP: What do you do full-time?
Angelika: In Germany, I worked as a media designer in an advertising agency. In 2008, during my trip to Tanzania, when I was touched by
the suffering of many people, I took further training in psychotraumatology and trauma counseling. I now work full time for Waisenkinder Tansania e.V..
STELP: How did you come to work with STELP and how long have you been a “Supporter on Site”?
Angelika: In Tanzania, I encountered many children who are not only hungry, but lonely and unwanted. I had my first contact with Serkan on the phone in 2021, when we talked about the fate of many newborns in Tanzania. Since then, STELP has been supporting us on a monthly basis to build a home for babies who are more and more often abandoned due to social pressure, illness or poverty.
STELP: Why is your project so close to your heart?
Angelika: Whenever good happens, whenever people are moved to do good, the Spirit of God is working behind the scenes. He is the one who transforms. Love transforms and wherever we share with the poor, whether it is our bread, our time, our compassion or our lives, that is where heaven kisses earth.
STELP: What kind of work do you enjoy most about your project?
Angelika: Working with children.
STELP: Do you have a life motto
Angelika: Glory to God.
