The Okavandu foundation
We are building a better home for the people who keep Okavandu running every day.
The Okavandu foundation works on our farm near Wilhelmstal in the Erongo Region, for the families who live and work there. In the Village, where our staff families live, every new house already has running water, electricity, and its own bathroom with a shower and toilet. We cover school fees and school supplies for the children, and a doctor comes to the farm regularly. But that's not all: we have plenty more planned.
What is taking shape here: the Okavandu Village
In the middle of the Erongo, the Okavandu Village is taking shape, a place where people can live as well as work. That is our big vision. Homes, a school, health care, and a place for the community are the individual steps we take to make it real.
This vision grows step by step, carried by Okavandu, with full responsibility for every contribution entrusted to us. We follow every project in person on site and stand behind it, so that something lasting comes of it.
Our projects
The big vision grows out of many small steps, and here you can follow each one of them.
First staff housing
The Okavandu Village is off to a start: the first houses are up and our staff already feel at home there.
A solar plant for electricity
Our own solar plant produces clean power and supplies us independently and reliably, even in this remote location.
Water from our own boreholes
Three boreholes of our own reliably supply the people at Okavandu with clean water, in the middle of Namibia's dry country. Everyone who lives and works here can count on it coming fresh from the ground right here, every day. For us, that is one of the most important basics of a good home.
Health and education
A doctor comes to the farm regularly and looks after our employees and their families.
We also cover school fees and school supplies for the children, to give them access to education and a solid base for their future.
Our next steps
- Planned
Preschool
We are planning a preschool of their own for our employees' children, a place to play and learn where they are well looked after while their parents work. This way we support even the youngest and give them a good start in life.
- Planned
Soccer field
For many people at Okavandu, soccer is simply part of life, and they play with real passion. We'd love to give them a place of their own to get together and play sports.
The founders
Manuel Drescher
Founder and managing director
Torsten Herbert
Founder and managing director
Manuel Drescher and Torsten Herbert, longtime business partners who share responsibility for the vision behind Okavandu, founded Okavandu gGmbH.
These companies already support us
These companies have already supported our projects with a donation. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
How to donate
Every donation means a great deal to us, and we make sure we use it responsibly at Okavandu. You can donate easily by bank transfer to the following account, and we'll gladly issue you a donation receipt on request.
Our bank details
- Account holder
- Okavandu gGmbH
- IBAN
- DE87 7906 9150 0008 7805 95
- BIC
- GENODEF1GEM
- Bank
- Raiffeisenbank Main-Spessart
- Payment reference
- Name + desired project, if any
Feel free to email us at office@okavandu.com so we can issue you a donation receipt.
Why a donation makes sense
Our short info sheet sums up why a donation is worth it, which problems of the people here we want to tackle, and how we go about it. Just enter your email address and we'll be happy to send you all the information.
How we use your donation
All projects take shape right at Okavandu, where our farm and our lodge are too. The people we build for live and work here.
20 to 30 people live on the farm, employees and their families. Anyone who works for us may bring their family. That's why our projects are always about the whole family.
Okavandu gGmbH, a non-profit limited liability company, receives your donation. It is based at Untere Brückenstraße 2 in 97816 Lohr am Main and listed in the commercial register of the Amtsgericht Würzburg under HRB 17835, with Manuel Drescher and Torsten Herbert as its managing directors.
If you like, we'll issue you an official donation receipt that you can submit to your tax office. You'll receive it by email once the books for the calendar year are closed.
From Germany, your money goes to our trust in Namibia, earmarked for a specific project on the farm. This way you always know exactly what your support goes to: right on the farm, right with the people who benefit from it.
Common questions about the foundation
Make a difference now
Every donation brings us a step closer to our big goal: a home where every family at Okavandu feels safe and sheltered. With your support, we'll take on the next project.