Worldwide, there are around 150 million children with a physical disability. Numerous are restricted in their movement by amputations or physical deformities. As a result, they often suffer particularly from a lack of social participation. A large proportion of them live in newly industrialized or developing countries where they have no or only limited access to orthopaedic care.
Professor Hans Georg Näder founded the Ottobock Global Foundation in 2015. It provides people in need worldwide with prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs and is committed to better healthcare and a better quality of life for people with physical disabilities – especially for children and young people in low and middle income countries.
People with physical or mental impairments are particularly vulnerable groups of society in times of emergency and conflict. Therefore, they need our focused encouragement. The Ottobock Global Foundation provides immediate and need-oriented support in conflict situations and after disasters such as floods, earthquakes or explosions.
To ensure agile and effective support, we work with specialized project partners on site. Together with partners such as “A Heart for Children” and Human Plus e.V., the Ottobock Global Foundation provided wheelchairs for children and young people from Syria and Ukraine. Through our clinical partner network, we enable care for refugees in border areas. In Ukraine, the foundation will also be involved in rebuilding the country's care infrastructures.
The current situation in the Gaza Strip is characterized by conflict and fighting. The region is experiencing a complex political situation. The ongoing tensions have far-reaching effects on the living conditions of the people there. The healthcare system has collapsed and most hospitals are no longer functional.
Children in particular are suffering from acute shortages of vital medical supplies, food, clean water and basic needs. The number of injured cannot yet be estimated. Hospitals report a large number of amputations that need to be treated.
We want to support the children in the Gaza Strip in the midst of the current humanitarian crisis.
With “People in need – Help for the children of Gaza”, the Ottobock Global Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to enable the care of injured young people.
The Ottobock Global Foundation operates a workshop in the Syrian-Turkish border area since five years to provide care for Syrian refugees. The Foundation is also active in Lviv, Ukraine.
“In collaboration with our partners in the region, we are planning direct support as soon as the situation allows. Our primary goal remains to give the affected children hope and restore their quality of life.”
Prof. Hans Georg Näder
Initiator of the Ottobock Global Foundation
If you would like to support our relief campaign “People in need – Help for the children in Gaza”, please pay your donation into the special account mentioned. You are welcome to use the QR code.
Donation account:
Ottobock Global Foundation
Deutsche Bank
IBAN: DE55 1007 0000 0937 0370 00
BIC: DEUTDEBBXXX
Subject:
“People in need – Help for the children in Gaza”
Would you like to use the QR code?
Please use our bank transfer form:
Transfer form (PDF)
We will promptly invest the funds entrusted to us in this project. If your donation can no longer be used for the intended purpose, it will be reallocated to current and comparable projects. Your donations will always be used in accordance with the statutes of the Global Foundation.
"On February 6, devastating earthquakes struck the border area between Turkey and Syria, followed by further aftershocks. Already, there are more than 47,000 fatalities. The number of injured is not yet foreseeable. Countless children have lost family members and are injured.
We are facing a humanitarian catastrophe: there is a lack of clean water, sanitation, food and safe shelter. Hospitals report a large number of amputations that need to be treated.
With “People in Need – Help for Earthquake Victims”, the Ottobock Global Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to support the development of a medical technology infrastructure on site.
In order to be able to provide patients with prostheses and orthoses in a professional manner, the medical technology company Ottobock is equipping several containers as mobile orthopaedic workshops and sending them to the Turkish crisis region.
For five years now, the Ottobock Global Foundation has been represented with a workshop in Gaziantep in the Syrian-Turkish border region to provide care for Syrian refugees. A container of this type has also been in use in Lviv, Ukraine, since last year.
“Together with our partners in the region, we are helping directly on the ground. Our goal is to give hope and a bit of quality of life back to the people in the crisis area.”
Prof. Hans Georg Näder
Initiator of the Ottobock Global Foundation
The Diospi Suyana Missionary Hospital in the Peruvian Andes provides medical care for the poor, mainly indigenous population from southern Peru. The Quechua Indians are still affected by ethnic persecution and social discrimination.
The Ottobock Global Foundation supports the provision of orthoses and prostheses for children and young people in the orthopedic technology center of the hospital. This is the state's first orthopedic technology workshop and gives local access to assistive technology for around 500,000 people.
The German orthopedic technician master Christian Haupt takes care of the professional fitting. He moved to Peru with his family in August 2021 to volunteer with his expertise in the improvement of healthcare. The construction and the ongoing operations of the hospital are exclusively financed by donations.
An estimated 14.000 amputations are performed annually in Uganda. Due to political conflicts, widespread poverty and a limited health care system, professional orthopaedic care is hardly accessible to many affected people – there is a lack of medical facilities, qualified personnel, equipment and funding.
The Ottobock Global Foundation is therefore cooperating with Pro Uganda e.V. to improve prosthetic care and quality of life in the East African country. The association set up an orthopaedic workshop, in which more than 1.000 people already got a professional treatment and various trainings took place. The foundation donated prosthetic components and materials for children. It also covered the transport costs of 116 wheelchairs donated by Ottobock to Pro Uganda. The wheelchairs are used for training and distributed to health institutions.
Rainfalls in Germany in July 2021 have caused devastating damage. Places have been cut off from the outside world, houses have been washed away and people lost their lives. Due to its geographical situation, the Ahr Valley was severely affected. In order to provide immediate relief there, the Ottobock Global Foundation and the Näder family donated a total of 500,000 EUR for families who are facing special challenges due to the mental and physical disabilities of relatives.
The Bundesvereinigung Lebenshilfe e.V. made the funds available to affected families in cooperation with the state associations of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia and Lebenshilfe Ahrweiler. Even months after the flood disaster, many families continue to live in a state of emergency. The financial donation from the Ottobock Global Foundation and the Näder family provided relief for a total of 46 families with relatives with disabilities in this extraordinary situation. The remaining funds will also benefit the affected Lebenshilfe institutions.
The devastating explosion in Beirut injured more than 4,000 people. Together with the Ottobock Global Foundation, the internationally active medical technology company Ottobock, based in Duderstadt, Germany, is providing emergency relief and sending more than 100 wheelchairs to Beirut. “The people need our support quickly now. The majority of the population in Lebanon lives in Beirut. So almost every family is affected by the disaster”, says Prof Hans Georg Näder, owner of Ottobock, about the humanitarian aid. The responsible Chief Sales Officer (CSO) Oliver Jakobi adds, “Local medical care is particularly important now. Together with the German logistics partner ZUFALL, our team made it possible to deliver aid in a short time. I would like to thank everyone involved in this.”
The Ottobock Global Foundation coordinates the joint project. “As a first step, the Ottobock site in Königsee will provide wheelchairs that we will ship to Beirut. We will then talk to aid organisations on site to find out to what extent further fittings, especially with prostheses, are necessary”, says Chairman of the Board Karsten Ley. Since 2015, the Ottobock Global Foundation has been particularly supporting children and young people in disaster areas.
As a long-standing partner of Ottobock, the German logistics partner ZUFALL is responsible for shipping the wheelchairs. “This tragedy also deeply affects us at ZUFALL, which is why we are very happy to support the relief action,” explains Florian Grewe, Head of Marketing. His colleague Annette Otte, Head of the Sea freight department, adds, “The wheelchairs are loaded into a container at our logistics centre, transported to Hamburg and shipped from there. Due to the closure of the port of Beirut, shipping will take place via the port of Tripoli, Lebanon, about 80 km away. The transit time is expected to be 10 days.”
A bloody civil war has been raging in Syria for a long time, which has claimed around half a million victims. The large number of medical supplies for the refugees, some of whom are seriously injured and traumatised, poses a particular challenge for the authorities and aid workers. Especially for children who have suffered injuries during the war and while fleeing, quick and expert help is urgently needed to prevent consequential damage to their physical and mental development.
For several years now, the Ottobock Global Foundation has been active in the Syrian-Turkish border region to provide injured refugee children with prostheses, orthoses and wheelchairs.
When caring for the children, the Ottobock Global Foundation attaches great importance to being able to clearly trace which people have been cared for where and when. The members of the Board of Directors visit the facilities at regular intervals and talk to partners and patients in order to ensure even more targeted care. Ottobock Turkey is an important partner in this project.
The Ottobock Global Foundation donated wheelchairs for disabled children and young people as part of the ZDF gala “A Heart for Children”. The organisation Human Plus e.V. , a project partner of “Ein Herz für Kinder”, had registered a need.
“It is a matter close to my heart to help children in need. Many boys and girls have suffered serious injuries in the war, are traumatised and depend on aids. It is important that we support them and do not leave them alone in their need”, Näder explains his commitment.
The Ottobock Global Foundation has already handed over twelve wheelchairs to children in Syria, and another twelve will be given to boys and girls in the Ukraine.
As a former Soviet state, Ukraine theoretically promises free health care for every citizen. The reality, however, is completely different: The budget deficit, economic crisis and lack of reforms have meant that health care is free only on paper. This presents families with disabled children with enormous challenges.
As already tested in the Syria project, the partners Ein Herz für Kinder, Human Plus e.V. and the Ottobock Global Foundation have therefore launched another project for children and young people from the greater Kiev area. Here, too, the focus was on the supply of adapted and in some cases made-to-measure wheelchairs. A total of 12 children and young people were provided with aids.
The Ottobock Global Foundation supported Bild “A Heart for Children” as an active partner in the implementation of an aid delivery for children and young people in Morocco. The health care system is well developed compared to other African countries. However, medical care for the urban population is much better than for the rural population. Nevertheless, many families with mobility-impaired children find it very difficult to provide them with appropriate aids. The Ottobock Global Foundation and Bild “A Heart for Children” also cooperated in this project to make electric wheelchairs available to children and young people.
Help us to provide injured children with aids and thus give them back independence and quality of life. Every donation counts. Donations instead of gifts. For the next festive occasion, instead of gifts, make a donation for “children in need”.
From a donation amount of 200 Euro you will receive a donation receipt. Please let us know your address. For amounts below this amount, the remittance slip is sufficient for presentation to the tax office.
Ottobock Global Foundation
Deutsche Bank
IBAN: DE55 1007 0000 0937 0370 00
BIC: DEUTDEBBXXX