Learn About Us
Hand on Heart Cameroon (HoH) was founded to address one of the most urgent yet under-resourced public health challenges in Cameroon: access to mental health care. Mental health needs are widespread, yet services remain scarce, centralized, and often inaccessible—particularly in rural areas. Our work responds to this gap by strengthening local capacities, building sustainable care pathways, and generating evidence that reflects lived realities on the ground.
We approach mental health as a collective responsibility that spans communities, health systems, research, and policy. Our mission is not only to respond to crises, but to enable prevention, early identification, and long-term support in ways that are culturally grounded and ethically responsible.
Hand on Heart Cameroon is driven by a multidisciplinary team united by a shared commitment to mental health equity. Our core team includes local clinical psychologists, pair aidants with lived experience, neuroscientists, public health professionals, and informatics specialists. This diversity allows us to bridge practice and research, lived experience and scientific evidence, local knowledge and digital innovation.
We work in close collaboration with local and international partners, academic institutions, and health structures. While our work is community-rooted, our standards are global: ethical conduct, scientific rigor, and respect for lived experience guide everything we do. We believe that sustainable impact emerges when local expertise is recognized, strengthened, and placed at the center of mental health systems.
President-Founder, Family peer support worker
Strategic association management
Legal specialist, Family peer support worker
Translator and psychologist
Project Manager, Psychologist
Technical Focused
Public Health Expert
Innovation Manager
We welcome all forms of support and want your experience with us to be meaningful and enjoyable. You can help in many ways: from organizing awareness campaigns and events, to supporting field research, developing partnerships with universities, contributing to our website, or even offering clinical consultations in Cameroon. Every skill counts — let's work together to improve mental health care and understanding.
Testimonial
Doctorante en sociologie
J'ai connu Sandrine lorsque Hand on Heart commençait à se développer. J'ai été impressionnée, et je le suis encore, par la détermination et le courage de Sandrine dans le lancement de ce très beau projet, qui, je l'espère, permettra encore d'aider de nombreuses personnes. Bravo à elle et à tous ceux qui l'ont rejoints pour mettre cette association sur pied !
Social worker
The people behind Hands on Heart all have passion, commitment and a beautiful heart for mental health. It was a pleasure to be able to experience their work, commitment and persistence every day.
Mechanic & Voiceover artist
It was a truly fulfilling experience to spend the day with Hand On Heart Association, capturing their work through photos and video. Being part of their mission, even behind the camera, gave me a deep sense of purpose and joy.
Clinical psychologist
The Hand on Heart team is doing outstanding work in mental health in Cameroon. With great passion, the association is driving impactful initiatives – being part of it has been a deeply rewarding and transformative experience for me.
CEO Interlink Marketing
The time with Sandrine, her family and her association Hand on Heart was short, but very productive, intense and humorous. We considered new strategies and measures, made a promotional video, worked on the website and the roll-up. The decision was made to do more educational work in rural areas and to use the existing donations there. Sandrine is tireless in raising awareness of mental illness and introducing services. I wish the Hand of Hearts continued growth so that stigmas are removed and people receive adequate help. Sandrine – you are a hero to me!
NHS Psychosis Specialist Practitioner and Social Worker
The work Sandrine is doing with Hand on Heart is amazing. The passion she has in her quest to improve mental health awareness and support in Cameroon is inspiring and incredibly important.
User Experience Design & Multicultural Management
Bas has a background in User Experience Design and Multicultural Management and supports Hand on Heart with various strategy, digital, and outreach activities.
Psychologist, therapist in massage
Sandrine's beautiful organization does groundbreaking and acutely important work on mental health awareness and education in a very tough context. She was such a caring, dedicated and generous host, and I had the opportunity to participate in all aspects of her life from market trips and cooking delicious local dishes to visiting mental health clinics and teaching a workshop on somatic tools for stress-relief and nervous system re-regulation. Her home is modern and comfortable, but the streets of Yaounde didn't feel exactly safe – fortunately she guided us through every possible situation with confidence and expertise. Put your psychology chops to good use for this brilliant organization and its life-changing cause!
Volunteer
I spent 3 weeks at Sandrine's place and association. Sandrine is a very kind and nice person, who is fighting for a good thing. In this time we worked for a campaign to educate about mental health and in a fundraising campaign. The work she is doing is very important in Cameroon and I wish her the best for the future. I'm also very thankful for hosting me in this time and showing me many things about Cameroon!
Volunteer
Working with Sandrine and living in Cameroon was one of the most unique and enriching experiences I could have asked for. I helped create a report to submit to the ministry of public health for a project we had completed, and I worked with Sandrine to strategize and plan future activities for the association. They are a small association so there is opportunity to be creative and Sandrine is very open to suggestions. This was a great experience working for a small non-profit and learning about mental health in Cameroon.
Volunteer
A truly transformative and life-changing experience. Staying with Sandrine's family while supporting her growing NGO provided a unique opportunity to immerse myself in the local culture, contribute meaningfully from day one, and learn every aspect of non-profit work. Sandrine's inspiring leadership, warmth, and dedication made this experience both professionally rewarding and personally impactful. I left motivated to continue supporting the organization and even pursue a career in the non-profit sector.
Volunteer
Sandrine is a lovely, welcoming presence wherever she goes. I was unfortunately not able to spend as long as I would have liked with her and her lovely family due to the sudden death of my partner's father and fears about the new covid variant, but she was beyond helpful and I am so grateful! She took a day off work to help me organise my departure, e.g. searching for tests, finding a taxi to the airport etc. and we had a lovely meal out together. If you are looking for a genuine cultural exchange in the heart of Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, then this project is for you!
Volunteer
The 6 weeks spent with Sandrine and her family were nothing short of wonderful. Working with the organization provided on-the-ground insight into the state of mental health education and factors contributing to mental illnesses in Cameroon. The organization team was extremely helpful and supportive in establishing Sharing Circles within the organization. Sandrine welcomed me into her family with open arms. I learned so much by cooking with her family and seeing different parts of Yaounde. If you want to learn more about Cameroon while working in mental health, I highly recommend spending time with Sandrine at the organization.
"Transparency and accountability are core values of Hand on Heart Cameroon. We are committed to responsible governance, ethical use of resources, and open communication with our partners, donors, and the communities we serve."
We publish annual activity reports and financial statements that document our projects, partnerships, funding sources, and expenditures. These reports reflect our commitment to integrity, learning, and continuous improvement, and allow our work to be understood, ballotized, and trusted.
