In 2005, Milla Happonen started a campaign with friends to help feed families living in complete poverty around her in Kampala. At Christmas time they managed to deliver food packages to 120 suffering families – around 600 people. The aim was to help these families have a decent meal on Christmas Day but with amazing dedication and generosity from many people the volunteers were able to supply the families with enough food to last them one month. Even though this was a great achievement it was quickly realised that this was only a short-term solution for a bigger problem.

Caring Hands was created as a way to break the cycle of poverty by primarily empowering women: widows, single mothers and women from difficult circumstances – many HIV positive and struggling to support themselves and their families. In helping them to learn basic life skills such as adult literacy, how to save money and basic business knowledge many of these women were trained in jewellery making. Creating beautiful, colourful beads from recycled paper and turning them into many products and selling them enabling a profit to be made. This provides the women with a wage and also helps to keep the doors of Caring Hands open to the wider community.

The determination of Caring Hands to encourage people from poverty continues to grow in their efforts to reach more of the community by supporting home visits from social workers for people who are unable to travel due to health or lack of transport and help with healthcare for many people suffering from various diseases including HIV and AIDS.

Two projects currently running through Caring Hands are LLL – Listen, Learn and Live supported by the Finnish Government helping to reach 450 households living in extreme poverty who are in desperate need of hope. The second project is PHS supported by USAID allowing Caring Hands to help more than 5000 orphaned or vulnerable children engage in education, sports and recreation, peer support groups and child rights with an emphasis on empowering young girls.

In 2008, Caring Hands registered as a non-government organisation (NGO) which operates in the Nakawa Division and Wakiso District of Kampala. Milla was also awarded the Governments Export Award by President Museveni later the same year for her work within rural communities and for sustaining environmental awareness by using recycled paper for the women to create the jewellery and sell in the markets.