We change children's lives.
Our history
Since 1981, ora Kinderhilfe international e. V. has been committed to children's lives without hunger and without poverty - but with education, health, hope and a future. Our Christian roots shape us and our work. We feel particularly committed to the commandment of charity. We see doing good for the poorest and weakest in the world and thus improving children's lives in the long term as both a mission and a task.
"ora"
The word "ora" comes from Latin and means "pray". St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491 - 1556) coined the saying: Pray as if everything depended on you. Act as if everything depended on God. In accordance with this saying and the Latin proverb "ora et labora" (pray and work), we use all available means and resources to help children and families lead a self-determined life and bring about lasting change.
Our work
The first step is always to ensure the necessary basic supplies and thus invest in a successful future for the children right from the start. Sufficient food, a healthy upbringing and regular access to education enable girls and boys to provide for themselves one day and leave poverty behind them. We also support parents with income-generating measures and offer training so that they too have the opportunity to lead their lives independently and responsibly.
We are also involved in disaster relief. We provide quick and uncomplicated help with the basic necessities of life when people are plunged into great misery from one moment to the next. We distribute food, clothing, medicines and hygiene packages and provide reconstruction where we can through further cooperation.
Our visions
Our focus
Our approach is child-centered and holistic. We always take the children's entire living environment into account and include the family, the village and the region. Together with our local partners, we identify the needs of the girls and boys. In this way, we meet the children and families up close and personally and can help flexibly and spontaneously where we see need. We are convinced that this is the way to break the vicious circle of poverty, hunger and hopelessness in the medium and long term.
Our values
Personal
We are moved by the life situations, fates and stories of the people we work for. We visit the local population during our travels, meet people at eye level and listen to them. They themselves know best what they need to improve their living conditions. Together, we develop solution strategies that are implemented by both sides - the local people and us as ora Kinderhilfe.
Our project partners form the bridge: we work exclusively with local organizations that know the situation on the ground very well. They are experts with whom we have been working for years in a spirit of trust.
Close
Being close to the people in Africa, Eastern Europe and the disaster areas where we help is a matter close to our hearts. Only if we know the living conditions well can we help individually and as a whole. We take the time to understand the social structures of the villages and regions and manage our commitment in a targeted and efficient manner.
Authentic
Our encounters with local people are often painful, frequently emotional and always authentic. Their fates touch our hearts. Making better living conditions possible for them is both an incentive and an obligation for us. However, we often come up against the limits of our possibilities.
Our transparency and authenticity are characterized by the fact that we communicate this openly to those affected in the project countries as well as our supporters and give them a comprehensible insight into our use of funds. You can find precise figures, data and facts in our current annual report.
Our club structure
ora Kinderhilfe e. V. is organized as a registered association and structured as a company. All available funds serve the charitable purpose of the statutes and all donations are tax-deductible.
The General Meeting is the highest body of the association. It elects the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board. Bernd Kreh (retired fundraiser), Dr Rebecca Schäfer (paediatrician) and Prof. Dr René Sadowski (Chairman, Professor of HR & Organizational Development) have been members of the Supervisory Board since 2023. They monitor the Executive Board, appoint the auditor and report to the General Assembly.
All members of the Association and Supervisory Board work on a voluntary basis and do not receive any remuneration.
Non-profit status
ora Kinderhilfe is trustworthy. We attach great importance to handling the funds entrusted to us transparently and carefully. In our annual reports you will find all further information and figures for the last financial year.
Our income and expenditure, our balance sheets and transactions are regularly checked by the tax office, the German Central Institute for Social Issues (DZI) and an independent auditor.
Our responsible handling of donations has been confirmed every year since 2005 by the award of the DZI donation seal.
As a charitable and non-profit aid organization, ora Kinderhilfe is dependent on donations. We issue a donation receipt for every donation, which can be claimed against tax at the tax office.
There is hardly a more satisfying feeling than knowing that you can be something for other people.
Our memberships
We belong to the "Association of German Development NGOs" (VENRO) and bear the DZI donation seal of the German Central Institute for Social Issues. We are also a member of the "Initiative Transparente Zivilgesellschaft" (Transparent Civil Society Initiative), "BER"(Berliner entwicklungspolitsicher Ratschlag - Eine Welt Stadt Berlin) and the "Deutsche Interessengemeinschaft für Erbrecht und Vorsorge e.V."(DIGEV e.V.).
Our impact monitoring ensures our good support results. This is the only way we can change children's lives for the better.
The people in our project countries live in difficult conditions. Our aid is aimed at improving their desolate living conditions in the long term. We regularly review the success and change processes in our projects. In doing so, we always personally gain a differentiated picture of the situation on the ground and analyze the local changes, experiences and conditions as well as the potential of the local population. It is important to us that projects are always implemented in close cooperation with the local people. In long-term sponsorship programs, we take a close look at the overall situation, health development, school attendance and the family situation of the sponsored child.
Transparency and impact monitoring are important to us
Our sponsors, donors and supporters place great trust in us. This places us under a special obligation to handle the money and donations in kind entrusted to us responsibly, proportionately and effectively. Our working methods are transparent and open at all times. The annual DZI donation seal of approval has certified that we have handled donations conscientiously and in accordance with our duties since 2005. You can find exact figures, data and facts in our current annual report.
Transparency through information
Our donors and sponsors receive regular newsletters on current topics and progress in our project regions. Twice a year, sponsors receive mail from their sponsored child and find out how they are doing and what has been achieved locally thanks to their sponsorship contribution. On the sponsor trips, sponsors and interested parties have the opportunity to meet their sponsored child and see for themselves how effectively the donations and sponsorship money are being used.
