Finances
Since 2010 the Umckaloabo Foundation has donated around 7.3 million euros to support educational projects in southern Africa. We can keep administrative costs to a minimum because of the commitments of our active volunteers. The inevitable remaining costs are assumed by the Foundation’s supporters and the Schwabe Group. As a result, 100% of every donation made goes to Africa in full.
Total project support, 2010-2025
Schools in Africa: 3 million euros
Scouts: 1.5 million euros
Day-care centers: 420,000 euros
Home for children: 450,000 euros
Other: 1.93 million euros
What we have achieved
• 147 implemented projects which have reached around 80,000 children
• Over 11,000 children have attended our schools
• 18 schools built or expanded
• 160 scholarships in Malawi and Zambia
• Over 40,000 Scouts reached
• Over 25,000 trees planted
Board of directors
Olaf Schwabe represents the fifth generation of Dr. Willmar Schwabe’s family. He can look back on a long family tradition that has always been defined by intercultural thinking and accepting social responsibility.
Dr. Willmar Schwabe himself — the company founder and great-great grandfather of Olaf Schwabe — helped support sanitoriums for the elderly and infirm from the late 19th century onward. Since it was first established in 2010, the Umckaloabo Foundation has invested a total of over seven million euros in educational projects in Africa.
“As a family-owned business, we accept corporate social responsibility in many forms, especially in southern Africa. In places where family structures are lacking, we want to help children and young people to develop a valuable perspective for themselves.”
Uwe Bothur has extensive experience in managing foundations and projects; for over 40 years he has contributed to educational work and has founded or helped expand a number of organizations. In particular, he focuses on disadvantaged children and young people; he wants them to have better future perspectives through education.
In 2006 Uwe Bothur was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit for his work.
“I am grateful the Umckaloabo Foundation exists: it has grown to become a platform that develops a wide variety of initiatives and helps young people in southern Africa to have a self-sufficient life and a healthy future.“
Dr. Traugott Ullrich is a physician and economist who serves as the General Manager Marketing, Medical & Sales in Germany at the Schwabe Group, which distributes Umckaloabo® in Germany and around the world. Dr. Ullrich has often traveled to southern Africa and grown familiar with the botanical diversity of this region as well as the specific needs of many who live there.
“Our raw materials for Umckaloabo® come from southern Africa. That alone is a reason why we feel a strong tie to the people from this part of the world. The Umckaloabo Foundation is intended as our contribution to helping children and young people in one of the world’s poorest regions achieve a healthy and self-sufficient future. This is an issue of great concern to me, both personally and as a physician.”