This vision is our motivation to implement new and support existing projects that have a far-reaching impact in the fields of medicine & health, as well as arts & culture. The aspect of sustainability plays a major role in this respect.

Mission

In the field of medicine & health, we support humanitarian and innovative projects and initiatives throughout the world. We promote innovation, medical education, first aid and WASH and support better access to health care. To this end, we collaborate with politics, industry and civil society. We are continuously working to improve the conditions for a long and healthy life for people all over the world – especially in India, Uganda and Burundi.

In the field of arts & culture, we promote projects that particularly benefit children and young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. To this end, we collaborate with politics and cultural institutions. We enable people to participate in art and culture. We reduce inhibitions, encourage creativity and provide room for free development.

Together with our project partners, we aim to change social structures to ensure that all people can live a healthy life while having room for personal development, regardless of their origin and life situation.

To this end, the skills of the nursing staff in the districts of Matana, Bururi, Rutovu and Mwaro will be expanded, the referral channels for patients improved and the patients' ability to act strengthened.

A total of 300 nurses and 86 doctors from 50 health centers will be trained to ensure high-quality early detection, diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

For 300 people living with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure or chronic respiratory diseases, training on prevention and self-management will be offered so that their skills can be strengthened and self-help groups can be set up.

In addition, education and screening campaigns will be carried out in the four health districts to reach up to 1,200 people and improve continuous data collection on the diseases. The employees of the 50 health centers are being trained in data collection and screening techniques for this purpose.

The target group is young people with different educational backgrounds, refugees, neurodivergent children and young people with disabilities between the ages of 10 and 18. They are given the opportunity to try out and learn instruments without expensive music lessons. In addition, courses will be offered in which they can experiment musically and create works together, such as the combination of light and music.

The training lasts two years and includes basic nursing and provision of medical care for patients, which supports the work of nurses.

After successfully completing the training, the girls receive a double certificate for the 12th grade (cf. A-levels) and a paramedical certificate. The professional paramedical certificate enables immediate entry into the profession. The final certificate allows for additional further training.

The professional perspective gives the girls the opportunity to shape their lives more independently. They have the same educational opportunities as their male peers and can play an active role in society with more self-confidence.

This is because the situation of armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has worsened dramatically. An end to the conflict is not in sight. Many people have fled to Goma in the east. There they live in camps in very confined spaces, without clean drinking water, food or money. As there is no way of earning a living in the camps, malnutrition occurs, especially among children.

Women have been selected from 75 households on the basis of the criteria "single widow as head of household" or "senior citizen or woman with a disability running the household" or "household has at least 2 malnourished children under the age of 5". The project teaches them how to grow vegetables, provides them with a better diet and a small income from selling vegetables.

Furthermore, there is a risk of diseases such as diarrhea and cholera due to a lack of hygiene in the camp. By setting up water containers and distributing hygiene kits, personal hygiene is made possible and helps to prevent diarrheal diseases.

The "OUR NEW HOME" workshop promotes multicultural awareness and language skills. Women and girls attending Casa Base can learn English and Greek, as these languages are crucial for life in a new country and also for access to employment. They learn about regional, national and global cultures and forms of expression to help them find their way around. Excursions take place in the surrounding area. At the same time, they preserve their own linguistic and cultural heritage by also learning their home languages and cultures (e.g. through films, art and music).

In the second workshop, "Selfexpression through Art", the aim is to create an open, creative space for girls in which the participants have the opportunity to learn basic artistic techniques in a playful way on the one hand and to intensively experience their self-responsibility and self-efficacy through direct participation and collaboration in the group on the other. The courses are artistically guided and always include an exchange of personal feelings and exercises for team building and body awareness in order to feel present and part of a community.

The Stay Foundation from Stuttgart and the Ugandan Latek Stay Alliance developed this Guma #3 project. In Uganda "Guma" refers to strength or resilience and was chosen as the name because the project aims to strengthen both families and especially girls and women in Uganda.

The programmes are made up of the following components:

• As menstruation is a taboo subject in Uganda, girls and women often have no knowledge about menstruation and no financial means to buy sanitary pads. They therefore miss many days of school or become pregnant unintentionally. In the training, knowledge about menstrual hygiene is passed on. In addition, the girls are trained to make reusable sanitary pads. The trained participants then pass on their knowledge to at least two other people. For a direct insight into the training click here.

• Knowledge on healthy eating and water safety is passed on to parents in another train-the-trainer programme. Causes, effects and measures in case of malnutrition and undernourishment, as well as hygiene and correct water storage, water treatment and the protection of water sources are addressed. The participants learn how to make soap themselves and pass on what they have learned.

Click here to see the training.

Finally, the trainers present and discuss the topics of menstrual hygiene, safe water use, hygiene and healthy nutrition in so-called Baraza events to the local media, Village Health Teams, trainees and community leaders. The topics and content discussed are also presented in a radio programme to reach a wide audience.

Selected school classes with special pedagogical and social requirements work with pedagogical professionals in drama, dance and music theatre on the topic of a current production of Staatstheater Stuttgart. The workshop series takes place at the participating schools for a period of ten weeks. At the end of the workshop series, pupils can attend a drama, ballet or opera performance at Staatstheater Stuttgart together with their parents.

It is important to the Morpho Foundation not only to provide financial support for this unique and positively evaluated project of Staatstheater Stuttgart, but also to let the artistic impulses in the participating schools continue to have an impact beyond the workshops.

Therefore, on the initiative and support of the Morpho Foundation and in cooperation with theMinistry of Education, Youth and Sport, an accompanying training offer for the teachers of the participating IMPULS schools has been developed. In January 23, the first 17 teachers started the training with a two-day workshop, in which they could experience and try out creative methods of teaching music, theatre and dance themselves. Two more training days will follow in the current school year.

Further information about IMPULS MusikTheaterTanz and the teacher training can be found here.

The stakeholders involved are made up of Burundians and Germans who have extensive experience with health projects in Burundi and maintain partnerships. The aim is to realise projects that promote Burundi's healthcare system on the one hand and strengthen the country partnership between Baden-Württemberg and Burundi on the other.

In this context, the first aid project in Burundi was launched in January 2024 in cooperation with the Burundian Red Cross and will be realised at 140 schools in Burundi with joint funding from the Baden-Württemberg State Ministry and the Morpho Foundation.

In 3-5 day courses, 20 young people will be trained for emergency situations such as bleeding, burns, limb injuries, near-drowning, diarrhoea, fever and suffocation.

A first aid team is then formed in each school with selected and trained individuals. 1-2 teachers from each school can also take part in separate training sessions.

Everyone is encouraged to multiply and pass on the content in order to achieve a multiplier effect, as the trained person shares their knowledge with parents, classmates and friends and thus helps to ensure that emergencies change overall or do not occur in the first place.

The aim is to minimise the risk of accidents and injuries (awareness of how and where injuries occur) and to improve first aid so that the rescue system as a whole is relieved.

The long-term aim of this project is to develop a general toolkit for creative movement education, which will be used to train employees from social work institutions in the children and youth sector. The diversity and complexity of bodies and individuals are considered and children and young people are given a positive approach to their own bodies and those of others.

During this training, traditional Adivasi treatment methods based on active ingredients of plant-based medicine (phytopharmaceuticals) are taught. Each year includes a class of 20 young people from the surrounding villages who are selected in an application process.

The training ends with a state-recognised degree that enables the graduates to open a small health centre that provides primary health care in this remote region. Severe cases of illness are referred to the local hospitals.

During a visit on site, we were able to make certain that this is a holistic service that relieves the local ecosystem by growing the pharmaceutically relevant plants in their own physic garden. The young Adivasi, who are highly threatened by unemployment, are offered a possibility to earn their own living and to expand the health care of the surrounding villages, each with up to 500 people.

Thus, through this training, Laya is advocating for a form of health care that complements the conventional health care system, is based on the knowledge and practices of the indigenous communities, is accessible and cost-effective.

The content of the training focuses on ...
... the diagnosis of diseases based on symptoms
... the preparation of tablets, ointments and medicines
... The treatment of common diseases and injuries
... the cultivation of local medicinal plants
... the hygienic handling and care of instruments
... the registration and preparation of patient records

With the support of experts from Wilde Bühne e.V., the young people bring their personal life and their experiences to the theater in order to stage a play together. During the project, improvisational forms of play (role-playing, establishing spaces, characters & feelings) as well as group dynamic elements (warm-ups, interviews, getting-to-know-you games, mindfulness & relaxation exercises, feedback rounds) are incorporated into the work. Finally, the play is performed at the Landestheater Tübingen. The young people learn about theater arts, strengthen their cultural approaches, their self-efficacy and their confidence in general.

Numerous families lacked food, soap, blankets and clothing - in short, the bare necessities.

In the new acquisition of these necessary things by the Fondation Stamm in Burundi to maintain decent living conditions, the Morpho Foundation supported with financial resources.

Adivasi are an indigenous Indian population group. Dalits belong to the lowest caste in India and are still severely disadvantaged in society today. In this project, 150 of these young women are currently being supported in three years of apprenticeship. In the new apprenticeship year 2023, the Morpho Foundation will take over the apprenticeship costs of 30 girls.

The aim of these qualified courses is to give young women their own source of income with which they can support themselves and their families. At the same time, improved access to health care facilities in very rural home communities is created and the role image of women and their acceptance in the village communities is strengthened.

In order to complement the musical offer and to strengthen the health approach, further health measures were included according to need, which are implemented musically and artistically. These consist of several components that strengthen mental health, improve hygienic conditions in the camp and change the self-determination of women and girls (menstruation management, sexual education).

Information events and training sessions are held. A music teacher combines the musical and health components in the implementation of the measures by teaching the various topics through music, theatre and singing.

Through educational work, stigmatisation and superstition regarding mental health problems are reduced, resulting in an increased acceptance and utilisation of the therapeutic offer. The coordination of these health issues is carried out by a health officer and so-called health ambassadors in 6 regions, who are available for health issues in the communities.

The Morpho Foundation is committed to counteracting this development and, in cooperation with the Siemens Foundation, supports Whave Solutions in concluding contracts with local service providers in Teso and Busoga (Uganda) for the maintenance and repair of water sources of various kinds.

The basis for concluding such contracts is an Operation and Maintenance Framework (OMF) issued by the government, which is to be implemented in the regions in the long term. As a result, a Water Board is being set up in Ugandan district administrations to hold talks with the communities in order to conclude contracts.

Whave Solutions supports the members of the Water Board (Ministry of Water and Environment, NPOs, district administration officials) through training and facilitation of meetings. Implementation hurdles are identified, and responsibilities of the stakeholders are precisely defined. To implement the OMF, contracts are finally drawn up with the district councils, which include maintenance with local service providers. They provide information about the OMF and the advantages of concluding a contract with a maintenance service provider and subsequently also take care of the compliance with the contracts.

The goal of this project is for thousands of residents of these Ugandan districts and communities to have constant, self-determined access to clean drinking water, which is guaranteed by local sanitation service providers.

Accompanied by music teachers, four ensembles will visit one school class at each of four schools in Böblingen/Sindelfingen for one year. The ensembles are an early music ensemble, a classical trio, a classical quartet and a jazz ensemble represented by the Hanke Brothers. During the visits, one ensemble and two music educators work on a classical composition together with the class.

The children receive their first basic knowledge of pulse, rhythm and musical parameters and process these interactively with singing and methods from movement pedagogics. The same composition is thematised in the different facets of the ensembles.

At the end of the project year, the children are allowed to actively participate in a concert by the Hanke Brothers.

The Indian girls' home "Naya Jivan" is run by the Indian women's community 'Society of the Helpers of Mary' and currently accommodates 138 girls aged 4-18 years. The girls are among the poorest in India and come from different religions, castes and ethnic groups. Most of them are half or full orphans or their family members could not provide a home for them for various reasons.

The aim of the girls' home is to give the girls a safe space with a solid school education and vocational training, as well as recognition in society. In order for the girls to be able to live independently, they should receive highly qualified vocational training. An apprenticeship as a nurse is part of this, as they can then earn enough money to be able to live independently.

With the help of the "design thinking approach", children developed their own concept for a museum exhibition independently in small groups and with the support of two KIDS REVOLUTION coaches. The team worked together to develop a joint question, prepared and conducted interviews, built prototypes and tested ideas. The children each developed their own work of art for the exhibition. This allowed them to be creative and active as artists and also gave them the opportunity to slip into the role of a museum curator.

The project was concluded with a guided tour for the pupils at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Together with an art educator from the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart and an innovation coach, they then reflected on what they had experienced and learnt.

The Konstanz model region was set up on the initiative of the Konstanz cultural office, which, with its "Konstanzer Kulturlabor", already has many years of experience in imparting cultural education and in working with committed schools and motivated cultural workers. This cultural education offer is now to be further developed by the model region as part of the Kultur.Forscher! network of the PwC Foundation and, in the long term, made accessible to other regions throughout Germany. The project is planned for three and a half years and shall have a different main topic each year. The project is technically supervised by the Arbeitsstelle Kulturelle Bildung in Schulen (KuBiS) of the Philipps University in Marburg.

Since 2008, the PwC Foundation has been linking institutions and actors involved in cultural education with its Kultur.Forscher! programme – nationwide and in other German-speaking countries. The programme network currently includes 48 schools and cultural institutions in eight federal states and South Tyrol. Now another six Konstanz schools, the cultural office of the city of Konstanz and numerous independent artists and art educators from Konstanz belong to the network.

In a train-the-trainer approach, teachers are trained on WASH and menstruation issues. Furthermore, they learn methods to pass this on to children in a playful way:

• The Football4WASH method teaches WASH knowledge through ball exercises. This combines a sporting activity with knowledge recitation and active engagement. Theory lessons accompany these exercises.

• Creative projects in painting, music and dance deepen the knowledge. The students are also given the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other.

The theoretical input is supplemented by an expansion of the sanitary infrastructure so that the pupils can also apply what they have learned. For this purpose, the children put their knowledge to the test in a Football4WASH competition. As a result, two of the schools will receive a completely new sanitation infrastructure with separate toilets for girls and boys, hand washing facilities and clean drinking water. Three schools will receive basic equipment with hand-washing facilities to meet hygiene standards.

For the long-term and sustainable maintenance of the WASH infrastructures, the maintenance of the facilities is contractually ensured by regional service providers within the framework of Operation & Maintenance Follow-Ups.

In cooperation with Malteser International and the Association of Ambulance Professionals Uganda (AAPU), which promotes the expansion of emergency services through lobbying, this project supports both the provision of first aid courses by the AAPU and its organisational development.

750 participants will receive one-week first aid training in central, northern, eastern, southern Uganda and the West Nile region. Village Health Teams, Boda-Boda drivers, police officers and fire fighters are trained, as they are usually the first to respond to accidents and emergencies.

Scouts are also trained, because they usually mediate between students and teachers in many schools in Uganda, thus acting as multipliers. Emergency bags and first aid kits are then provided as equipment.

The AAPU is a very young association that is still in the process of being established. For this reason, professional advice on organisational development is being provided to the AAPU. The aim is to develop a business plan and strengthen the association's structures so that it can generate its own funds in the long term (e.g. through standardised and fee-based first aid courses).

With KiKuLa, the Morpho Foundation and the Landesvereinigung Kulturelle Jugendbildung Baden-Württemberg (LKJ BW) are setting up art workshops in five kindergartens in Tübingen, which for two and a half years are looked after by tandems of artists and kindergarten teachers and brought to life together with the children. This gives children between the ages of 3 and 6 the opportunity to discover their self-efficacy and creativity.

In the art workshops, seven fields of cultural education are implemented in phases: painting, drawing, modelling, movement in a room, working with found objects, performance, and media education. After each visit, the tandems of artists and kindergarten teachers reflect on their work.

The long-term goal is the continuation of cultural education practice in the participating kindergartens. In addition, the experiences and the resulting materials are to be used in further cultural education and qualification programs for kindergarten teachers and artists.

Further information about KiKuLa – creative from the start can be found here.

Together with selected primary schools and qualified drama teachers, the Landesverband Theater in Schulen e.V. (LVTS, State Association for Theatre in Schools) has since 2017 been developing a primary school curriculum in which theatre education topics are addressed didactically and applied in hands-on, cross-curricular teaching methods.

Due to its close integration with the current education plan, the curriculum can be implemented by any primary school in Baden-Württemberg in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to reach all children throughout the state.

By supporting the project TiGS (German abbreviation for "Theater work in primary schools”), the Morpho Foundation contributes to establishing theatre work as an integral part of teaching in Baden-Württemberg’s primary schools as another artistic field of education and learning alongside music and art.

More information about the project can be found here.

Community-based filter systems are being installed to filter arsenic/fluoride from the water and community-managed toilets are being completed to ensure safe wastewater disposal. In order to obtain regular water quality tests, women and young people are trained in monitoring before and after the monsoon season. The test results are passed on to the relevant authorities so that they can take immediate action.

Comprehensive training and awareness programmes on water safety and menstrual hygiene are also taking place. Finally, community organisations responsible for the operation and maintenance of the facilities and for monitoring water quality are also trained.

A great sound experience - Tübingen's Mayor Boris Palmer also thought so.

With KIDS SINGING FOR KIDS, the Morpho Foundation would like to draw attention to the "Digital Advent Calendar" fundraising campaign of the Aktion Sahnehäubchen, an initiative of Caritas Schwarzwald-Gäu. This initiative enables disadvantaged children and teenagers from the district of Tübingen to participate in art, sports and leisure activities for 16 years now. A goal that is also particularly important to the Morpho Foundation.

For every registered primary school child, the Morpho Foundation made a donation to the Aktion Sahnehäubchen. If you also want to donate, follow this link.

In cooperation with BCG India as well as Hydrolabs and Precision Health, wastewater samples were tested for pathogens, among other things, in order to detect the spread of diseases such as typhoid, cholera and COVID19 in good time and to stop them by taking appropriate countermeasures.

In addition, especially in the case of dengue and malaria, the occurrence of certain mosquito larvae in surrounding waters, which are responsible for the transmission of the diseases, was checked.

Further health-endangering factors were included in the monitoring of pollutants in the air and water, as well as noise pollution in the area.

In consultation with the administration of the area, possibilities for action were worked out, which were taken when the defined threshold values were exceeded. For example, measures were introduced that could quickly reduce the number of disease-carrying mosquitoes in the endangered areas.

The project dealt with films around the subject of hope. In a mixture of joint and individual work the 13 to 20-year-olds did sound research and developed a thematic concept for setting a silent film to music. They were guided by renowned musicians such as Professor Gerhard Müller-Hornbach (composition), Nicolai Bernstein (violin) and Michael Dan (piano).

The project, initiated and run by Vielklang e.V., started on August 13th 2022 and ended on August 20th 2022 with a final presentation to give an insight into the process and in which the compositions have been premiered together with the film.

For further information check the (german) website or the (german) flyer.

The BLOMST! gUG, which is performing the work together with the Arte Ensemble in a revival at Stuttgart's Wilhelma Theatre, has set itself the goal of promoting art and cultural participation.

With the support of the Morpho Foundation, it has developed an educational programme for primary schools to accompany the performances:

Dance mediators visited selected school classes and creatively introduced the children to Kurt Weill's music as well as the characters and the plot of "Zaubernacht" in workshops using a specially created radio play. Afterwards, the more than 400 children from the participating classes experienced the dress rehearsal together.

The premiere took place on 11.03.2022 at the Wilhelma Theatre. Excerpts of the performance and an interview (in German language) with Nina Kurzeja can be found here.

The radio play created for this outreach programme as well as accompanying material for children is available online.

These include 200 doctors, 200 nurses, 250 paramedics and 350 community health workers (CHW) in over 15 cities and 10 states in India, who in turn are responsible for a large number of patients (1CHW=1000 patients).

The Indian health system has been strained immensely during the first Corona waves, which revealed quantitative and qualitative abuses. Almost every family had to mourn victims, many people of the caregivers were also affected due to lack of knowledge. A lack of skilled staff and knowledge of treatment and hygiene procedures has resulted in traumatising experiences.

These trainings aim to create sustainable protection that protects the lives of patients and the lives of those working in the health system, while ensuring high quality of care.

In collaboration with Wipro GE, in two-day trainings, knowledge is imparted on COVID-19, general medical issues, mental health, hygiene measures and management techniques. After the training, the acquired knowledge can be deepened and maintained via an online library.

In order to evaluate the level of knowledge and the learning success of the measures, pre- and post-tests are conducted via mobile phone, which take place again directly after the training, at intervals of 2 weeks and 45 days.
The training is completed with a certificate.

The emergency relief camp was set up after devastating floods in 2019 and 2020 to provide a temporary shelter to people who lost their homes.

At present, there are still 1,577 households with 6,469 people (1,513 of whom are minors) in the camp who can only receive medical care from a doctor or nurse on a part-time basis due to lack of financial resources. Further medical care has been discontinued. The Burundi government is currently looking for areas where the refugees can permanently resettle. The long-term goal is to be able to shut down the emergency relief camp. Apart from Fondation Stamm, the International Organisation of Migration as well as the Burundi Red Cross are locally active at the camp: Both organisations are involved mainly in the fields of coordination and logistics.

The financial support of the Morpho Foundation serves as an immediate emergency measure to ensure primary medical care and improve it in terms of personnel and medication. The envisaged funding period is six to nine months.

Origin

In the spring of 2021, Ingmar Hoerr, founder and longstanding CEO of CureVac AG, and his wife Sara, former spokeswoman of the Stuttgart State Opera, came up with the idea of establishing a non-profit foundation with the funding priorities of health and culture, drawing on their personal background and professional expertise. Their idea soon won over Florian von der Mülbe, co-founder of CureVac, and his wife Kiriakoula Kapousouzi, who had been working in the education sector for many years, with the couple joining them as founders.

The four founders share the conviction that all people across the globe should have equal opportunities to live a long, healthy and fulfilling life and that participation in art and culture is a human right and the prerequisite for developing a strong personality.

The Name

Shaping & Changing

"Our vision is a world in which all people on earth lead a healthy and fulfilling life and have access to medical care as well as art & culture."

This vision is the start and end point of all activities of the Morpho Foundation. Against this background, the Morpho Foundation seeks to shape and change society in the long term. The study of shaping – morphology – and the principle of change – metamorphosis – are two fundamental focus areas of the foundation.

Exchange & collaboration

Bringing about social and structural change and shaping society cannot be realised in a vacuum. Just life “morpho” as a prefix cannot stand alone and always requires an addition to become a complete, meaningful word, the Morpho Foundation can and wants to always act in exchange and in collaboration with civil society, politics, industry and local partner organisations.

Hoerr & von der Mülbe

The two founding families, Hoerr and von der Mülbe, developed the foundation's goals together and the foundation's purpose is a matter close to their hearts. They are personally involved in the fields of medicine & health as well as art & culture with their expertise and their network. This is why the initials of the two founding families are particularly highlighted in the foundation's logo.

The Location

The Morpho Foundation is domiciled at the historical marketplace of the university city of Tübingen.

A reason to celebrate

The Morpho Foundation celebrated its first anniversary on June 24, 2022. Together with long-time companions, good friends and new project partners, the foundation team looks back on an eventful first year and confidently forward to future projects.

Particularly pleasing was the large number of guests with whom the foundation team was able not only to celebrate, but also to hold intensive discussions about future projects and innovative ideas.

The highlight was the artiste Fola Dada with her band – her inspiring singing made the evening an unforgettable experience.

Medicine & Health | Art & Culture

Impact & sustainability

We promote projects that contribute to generally improving the lives of individual persons and groups of people in the long term. We aim to bring about lasting change in society.

We promote projects that meet the criteria of ecological, economic and social sustainability. The impact of the projects should not only be felt, but also be measurable based on objective criteria. Whenever possible, we personally monitor the progress of the projects we fund and have their impact scientifically evaluated. The interim or final impact analysis of a project provides us with insights regarding its social impact, which is the basis of social sustainability.

Funding period

We want to set things in motion with our funding. We want to accompany people and partner organisations on site in the initial phase of a new project until it is integrated into the local structures or can be carried on independently at local level. We do not support long-term dependencies.

Target groups

Our target groups in the field of medicine & health are disadvantaged people, in particular from the global south, who have no or limited access to medical care.

In the field of art & culture, we promote projects that benefit children and adolescents from educationally disadvantaged, low-income or socially deprived families and enable them to participate in art and culture. In addition, our commitment is directed at people whom we win over as multipliers for our mission.

Reach

In the field of health, we promote projects worldwide. At present, we focus on Burundi, Uganda and India.

In the field of culture, we currently focus on projects in Baden-Württemberg.