Our History
WorldGranny is founded by drs. Caroline van Dullemen in 2004. At that moment, she was active within Dutch politics as director of the Scientific Office from 'Groenlinks' (Green Left Party). She is also former secretary to the NAR: 'Nationale Adviesraad voor Ontwikkelingssamenwerking' (National Advisory Council for Development Cooperation).
Caroline has traveled a lot through Africa as a journalist, where she spoke regularly with older women. Her goal was to comprehend more of the history and the political situation of the various countries.
Many of these older women had to fend for themselves completely. Moreover, they often had the care for their grandchildren, whose parents had left in order to find a job or had passed away from the consequences of HIV/aids. Radical political and economic changes clearly had to take place for the African people in order to have a better future. At the same time, Caroline realized that if these energetic elderly people would get a little help, their environment would profit immediately.
During her fieldresearch, Caroline noticed that in the Netherlands, almost no attention was given to the topic of global aging. At the same time she met an inspiring partner in HelpAge International. That is the reason why she founded WorldGranny.