Our projects are a bit like our children: they are close to our hearts, we nurture and care for them, they grow, learn to walk, and develop everything they need to thrive. And eventually, they become independent.
All our initiatives are designed to eventually sustain themselves, empowering local communities to continue the work on their own.
Partnership with Water is Right Foundation
Water is essential for life. While a person can survive three to four weeks without food, survival without water is limited to just three to four days. Yet up to two billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water.
In 2024, the DERTOUR Foundation, in partnership with the Water is Right Foundation, supported a WASH project in the Dominican Republic. These projects aim to ensure access to clean water and improve hygiene conditions, including through sanitary facilities.
In San Pedro de Macorís, about an hour from Santo Domingo, 20 marginalized young people – including five women – received vocational training in water supply and wastewater management on Saturdays throughout the school year. This program enabled them to independently pursue careers in the repair, maintenance, and installation of water and wastewater infrastructure.
Partnership with Flores Destination Management
Tourism is an important source of income for Indonesia. However, in heavily visited destinations like Bali, the lives of local communities are often heavily impacted by overtourism. To address this challenge, the Indonesian government aims to promote tourism development in emerging, lesser-known destinations.
In 2022, the DERTOUR Foundation, in collaboration with the local partner Flores Destination Management Organization, implemented a tourism training program. Residents of the three communities Waelolos, Todo, and Pemo along the Trans-Flores Route gained in-depth knowledge in the development and management of tourism products and services. This initiative helped create jobs and improve living conditions for the local population.
Partnership with iThemba elitsha e.V.
In the township of Kleinmond, south of Cape Town, the lives of children and young people are shaped by drugs, violence, crime, hopelessness, and poverty. Due to limited education and lack of parental support, many are denied the chance to pursue schooling and a self-determined life. Even basic, nutritious meals are unaffordable for most residents.
From 2018 to 2023, the DERTOUR Foundation, in cooperation with iThemba elitsha e.V., supported the establishment and equipping of a care center for 30 young people. There, the youths received a daily hot meal, homework assistance, and could participate in recreational activities and excursions, providing relief and support for their parents.
Partnership with Upendo e.V. and ECLAT Development Foundation
Among the Maasai in Tanzania, women traditionally have very few rights. They are usually married as teenagers and must care for themselves and their children – often alone, as men commonly have multiple wives. Women may be responsible for up to ten children yet are traditionally not allowed to own money. Additionally, they are socially isolated and have little contact with one another.
In 2017, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with Upendo e.V. and the locally active ECLAT Development Foundation, established a women’s education center to provide (young) Maasai women with better education and knowledge in hygiene and financial management. Since then, Maasai women from surrounding villages have met for experience exchange. The resulting 75 women’s groups were able to receive microloans as start-up capital, enabling them to gain freedom and independence and provide schooling for their children.
Partnership with Upendo e.V. and ECLAT Development Foundation
In the Simanjiro District of Tanzania, there is a severe shortage of skilled tradespeople such as carpenters and locksmiths. Local construction projects often require hiring expensive labor from the Arusha area. At the same time, many school graduates in the region struggle to find jobs due to a lack of qualified vocational training in trades. This leads to rural depopulation, unemployment, and limited regional development.
From 2018 to 2021, the DERTOUR Foundation, in cooperation with Upendo e.V. and the locally active ECLAT Development Foundation, supported the construction of a trades training center for secondary school graduates. The three-year dual program provides both theoretical and practical training in carpentry and locksmithing, offering 20 young people per trade each year promising career prospects within the region.
Partnership with ECLAT Development Foundation
The Maasai, an East African ethnic group, inhabit the Simanjiro District in Tanzania. In this male-dominated society, polygamy is common. Maasai women often care for 10 or more children, struggling to provide sufficient nutrition, while men traditionally do not participate in child-rearing. Topics such as family planning and contraception are rarely discussed within partnerships.
To address this, the DERTOUR Foundation, in collaboration with the locally active ECLAT Development Foundation, leveraged another Maasai tradition: the community’s love of singing. Important religious, political, and cultural messages are traditionally conveyed through songs. In 2024, a pilot project used this approach to introduce the topic of family planning to approximately 3,000 men across 20 selected communities, with support from a choir, village leaders, and healthcare personnel.
Partnership with Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP
Around the world, education is the key to an independent, self-determined life. While attending school is generally accessible and widespread in many countries, this is far from the case in large parts of the world. Often, the nearest preschool or primary school is far away, or children must help with fieldwork instead of attending classes.
Since 2014, the DERTOUR Foundation, in cooperation with Reiner Meutsch Foundation FLY & HELP, has supported 75 school construction projects across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The foundation monitored construction progress and ensured sustainable care and support for the children.
Partnership with Upendo e.V. and PAMS Foundation
In the border regions of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro and Tarangire National Parks, pressure on both humans and wildlife is steadily increasing. As the population grows, wild animals’ habitats shrink. Elephants often damage crops – sometimes with fatal consequences for themselves – and their traditional migration routes are increasingly disrupted.
From 2017 to 2024, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with Upendo e.V. and the local PAMS Foundation, educated 500 secondary school students annually, aged 14 to 20, in the Simanjiro District on environmental and wildlife conservation. Field trips to the adjacent Tarangire National Park complemented the program, allowing students to share their newly acquired knowledge with their parents and grandparents.
Partnership with Environmental Conservation Trust
The once-vibrant reefs off the south and west coasts of Barbados are fading. Large areas of coral have died – an alarming sign for the fragile ecosystem of the Caribbean island.
In 2021, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with the local Environmental Conservation Trust, implemented a pilot project on the west coast of Barbados to create new habitats for coral reefs and fish using Biorock technology. Steel and metal mesh frames, through which a weak electric current flows, were submerged in the sea. Electrochemical processes gradually form a solid crust from salts dissolved in seawater, such as aragonite and brucite. On the surface of these artificial reefs, solid limestone grows by up to three centimeters per year. The project also included educational and awareness activities for students and youth.
Partnership with Maldives Coral Institute
Globally, rising water temperatures, land reclamation, ocean acidification, and pollution are damaging the calcium skeletons of corals that have taken years to grow. Corals lose their color, die, and become overgrown by algae.
In 2023 and 2024, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with the local Maldives Coral Institute, implemented a coral conservation project on the reefs of the Malé Atoll using the MARRS method. Living coral fragments were transplanted onto flat, hexagonal, sand-coated steel structures to accelerate the growth of valuable coral biomass. Additionally, nine local community members were trained in the MARRS method to monitor the cultivation area and ensure the project’s success.
Partnership with Institute of Oceanology – Bulgarian Academy of Science
The beaches along the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast are very popular with travelers. However, tourism leaves its mark: litter from visitors accumulates on many beaches, and the growing number of hotel guests produces increasing amounts of waste, often disposed of improperly.
In 2023 and 2024, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with the local Institute of Oceanology, raised awareness among children, youth, and students, as well as local hotels, tourism service providers, and visitors. Activities included beach clean-ups, lectures, and educational programs at schools, kindergartens, and universities, highlighting the problem of marine litter and promoting greater responsibility in waste management.
Partnership with Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation
Over 3,000 marine mammals live in captivity worldwide, a situation critically assessed by marine biologists and environmentalists. At the same time, there is a lack of facilities to provide medical care for endangered species.
From 2019 to 2021, the DERTOUR Foundation, in cooperation with the local Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, supported a project on Lipsi Island in the northern Dodecanese to protect and conserve marine mammals – including seven seals, 30 turtles, and ten dolphins. The project included establishing a marine mammal sanctuary, creating a first-aid network across nearby islands, setting up an animal clinic, and opening two public information centers with educational programs for the local community and tourists.
Partnership with Mauritian Wildlife Foundation
In July 2020, a shipwreck caused a large oil slick of around 30 square kilometers off the coast of Mauritius. The Aldabra tortoises living on the beaches were exposed to harmful oil fumes.
From 2021 to 2023, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with the local Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, supported a project to protect Aldabra tortoises on Mauritius. Baby tortoises found on the beaches were cared for in a tortoise nursery and received regular medical attention. The conservation of Aldabra tortoises is essential for restoring Mauritius’ original habitats.
Partnership with Transfrontier Africa
The South African environmental organization Transfrontier Africa founded the anti-poaching unit “Black Mambas” in 2013 to protect rhinos. The unit is composed of 36 young women from local tribal communities who patrol Kruger National Park, constantly searching for illegal camps, snares, or poachers’ fire sites.
From 2020 to 2021, the DERTOUR Foundation, together with Transfrontier Africa, funded refresher training for the Black Mambas, ensuring the women maintain their status as wildlife experts and can continue to earn a livelihood.
Additionally, under the “Bush Babies” program, 1,300 students in 10 schools around the Greater Kruger National Park received weekly one-hour conservation lessons from the Black Mambas and had the opportunity to apply their knowledge during excursions into the park.
To help effectively and efficiently, we consolidate our activities and have created a catalog of funding criteria.
If your project proposal meets these criteria, we welcome your application! All proposals are carefully reviewed and, of course, responded to within a reasonable timeframe.
To help effectively and efficiently, we consolidate our activities and have created a catalog of funding criteria.
If your project proposal meets these criteria, we welcome your application! All proposals are carefully reviewed and, of course, responded to within a reasonable timeframe.
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