Building Capacity to Deliver Social Services
CONTENTS 4
Introduction: 2 010 Kicked off with South Africa Scoring on Social Innovation!
2010 Social Entrepreneurs
Environment
8 mothers2mothers:
22 e’Thekwini Municipality:
Dr Mitch Besser
10 Ndlovu Care Group: Dr Hugo Tempelman
12 Etafeni Trust: Mrs Stephanie Kilroe
Energy 16 Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism Pilot Project (Platinum)
18 e’Thekwini Municipality: Durban Landfill Gas to Electricity Project (Platinum) 1
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Greening the Moses Mabhida Stadium (Gold)
24 e’Thekwini Municipality: Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project (Gold)
26 City of Cape Town: Green Goal Action Plan (Silver)
28 Schools Environmental Education & Development: Organic Classroom Programme (Silver)
Housing
HIV/AIDS & Health
30 Social Housing Company:
53 Ugu District PMTCT Health
Amalinda Village (Platinum)
Social Development & Social Welfare (Gold)
36 Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (Gold)
38 Music Therapy Community Clinic (Silver)
40 The Dreamfields Project (Silver)
Grahamstown: Eye and Home Care Projects (Silver)
Skills Development & Employment
64 City of Cape Town: Violence
Education Trust (Platinum)
46 Small Projects Foundation: (Westeinde – The Netherlands)
48 Project Literacy: Run Home to Read (Silver)
50 Christel House South Africa
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58 St John’s Ambulance
Project (Silver)
44 Hantam Community
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Improvement: Closing the Gaps in Care (Platinum)
62 Thembani Handcraft
Education
(Silver)
54 Institute for Health Care
Joint Award
56 Project Masiluleke (Gold)
34 Athlone Institute Trusts
Protecting Futures Programme (Gold)
Programme (Platinum)
Prevention Through Urban Upgrading (Silver)
Agriculture & Food Security 68 Amadlelo Projects & Middledrift Dairy Farm (Gold)
70 Abalimi Bezekhaya: Harvest of Hope (Gold)
Impumelelo’s 2010 Sustainability Awards Ceremony hosted by the Artscape Audience Development & Education Initiative
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2010 Kicked off with South Africa Scoring on Social Innovation!
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his year South Africa was abuzz with excitement at its imminent hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. Impumelelo decided to tap into that energy and highlight what is happening in parts of the country to improve the environment and the quality of life of the poor. The launch of our 2010 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS sought to reward innovation in sustainable development, to offer hope to many when the vuvuzelas stop and football fever dies down. 2010 also marked the 10th anniversary of Impumelelo’s legacy of having unearthed more than 500 awardwinning projects since 1999. Soliciting applications included going around the country to publicise the 2010 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS. The result was 240 project submissions from across South Africa, almost doubling the numbers for the previous year! With much anticipation, 158 projects were farmed out to Impumelelo’s team of evaluators who criss-crossed the country to conduct site visits. 30 projects were finally shortlisted for our adjudications. The final adjudications allow the National Selection Committee to meet project representatives, after having studied their material and evaluation reports for one month beforehand and to choose winners after a thorough interrogation process. 27 projects received monetary awards in the Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Social Entrepreneur categories at a gala event hosted in the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town with an unprecedented 1 500
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Audience members stand during the Libertas Choir’s rendition of the national anthem – Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. (Opposite page, left) Jayshree Naidoo (DBSA), Dr Russell Ally, Julie May-Ellingson and Dr Mike Sutcliffe (e’Thekwini Municipality). (right) 2010 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS Ceremony’s Compère, comedian Mark Lottering. people in attendance! On the cover this year is the Kuyasa CDM Pilot Project (Platinum Award-Winner). Kuyasa has retrofitted 2 300 RDP houses with solar water heaters, insulated ceilings, and energy-efficient lighting, offsetting 6 000 tons of C02 every year. Kuyasa is a model that integrates environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation while creating jobs for the poor. These installations are not only improving resident’s health and safety – reducing the need for paraffin heaters – but households report substantial savings on energy costs. Projects that have pressing environmental issues at the core of their intervention walked away with the top honours at the 2010 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS. This was dominated by the
e’Thekwini Municipality, who have now won 10 Impumelelo Innovations Awards since 1999. This municipality remains at the cutting edge of social ‘green’ innovation in South Africa – exemplified by their Moses Mabhida Stadium (Gold Award-Winner), and successfully running Africa’s first Landfill Gas to Electricity Project (Platinum Award-Winner). Their Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project (Gold Award-Winner) is also a landmark municipal initiative that encourages citizens from Durban to recycle paper and plastic. Increasingly, projects are incorporating green techniques into their public service models. Initiatives like the Thembani Handcraft Project (Silver Award-Winner) have managed to combine skills training
for unemployed people with recycling to create jobs and industry in the small rural town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape. Abalimi Bezekhaya, has for the past 20 years, addressed issues of food security, cost-effectively, on the Cape Flats, by training urban farmers. Their Harvest of Hope Project (Gold Award-Winner) has not just helped hundreds of people feed their families, but has also expanded to create a market for their farmers to sell surplus organic produce to the public. This year award-winners, furthermore, illustrate the many ways in which schools are assets of social innovation. The Music Therapy Community Clinic, the Organic Classroom Project, and the Dreamfields Project (all Silver AwardWinners) use schools as places to develop young people whether it be with music, permaculture, or soccer. Christel House South Africa (Silver Award-Winner), also known as “the Oprah School of the Cape Flats”, demonstrates that through exemplary education, poverty need not determine the destiny of poor children. The Small Projects Foundation, a stalwart organisation in the Eastern Cape and not new to the Impumelelo Innovations Awards, presented a unique project called the Protecting Futures Programme (Gold Award-Winner). It creatively tackled the difficulties young girls encounter with the onset of menstruation, given the lack of sex education, sanitation and availability of sanitary towels at schools. The Hantam
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Community Education Trust (Platinum Award-Winner) has established itself as an educational institution of note in the Northern Cape. They run an exceptional school that is also the home of a soughtafter foundational-phase teacher training programme. Through education for farm children, Hantam has used the school as a catalyst for building social capital, and uniting a small farming community outside of Colesberg. Similarly, through harnessing community participation, the Ndlovu Care Group won one of the Social Entrepreneur awards, a new category Impumelelo added in 2010. Ndlovu is a rural development model that uses HIV/ AIDS and health care provision as a hub to create economic and social infrastructure. As previous award-winners, Ndlovu, together with the Etafeni Trust and mothers2mothers, have demonstrated effective replication since they were first recognised by Impumelelo. Dr Mitch Besser (m2m), Dr Hugo Tempelman (Ndlovu) and Mrs Stephanie Kilroe (Etafeni), the social entrepreneurs who pioneered these initiatives, have each grown into formidable experts in their own right within their respective fields. Coincidentally, all these entrepreneurs work in HIV/AIDS, which remains an important area of social innovation. The 2010 SUSTAINABILITY AWARDS recognised several projects that have looked at the old problems of HIV in new ways.
Project Masiluleke (Gold Award-Winner) experiment with cellphones and other mobile technologies to encourage people to test for HIV and adhere to treatment. Closing the Gaps in Care (Platinum AwardWinner) created a simple yet ingenious methodology that empowers health care staff to improve their service delivery. Moreover, this methodological approach is not just a theoretical framework, but it has been implemented successfully in health facilities around the country. The Ugu District, in rural KwaZulu-Natal, who shared the Platinum Award with Closing the Gaps in Care, managed to implement this model, substantially reducing the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmissions in the area. In conclusion, this magazine is a tribute to the social entrepreneurs found in every nook and cranny in the country and it aims to publicise the excellent models of public service coming from communities, government and the private sector alike. Even Impumelelo’s Star Award-Winners, who are not included in this collection, are infinitely praise-worthy, despite not winning a monetary award. They have nevertheless been awarded with 30 certificates for highly commendable work. 2010 was a year of many firsts but also a year which just further entrenched what Impumelelo already knows: there is no need to reinvent the wheel – South Africa is finding solutions to South African problems!!
20I0 SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS 8 mothers2mothers: Dr Mitch Besser 10 Ndlovu Care Group: Dr Hugo Tempelman 12 Etafeni Trust: Mrs Stephanie Kilroe
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mothers2mothers Dr Mitch Besser In 2007, mother2mothers (m2m) received a Platinum Impumelelo Innovations Award for its powerful intervention to combat mother-to-child-transmission of HIV. They used trained HIV-positive mothers to provide mentorship and support to HIV-positive pregnant women in 66 health facilities in two countries. “The spark of the idea”, says Dr Mitch Besser, “was to take some of the patients with whom I’d been working and invite them to come back and join me in my clinic and be care providers, and to pay them, to make them professional care providers. This really changes the model of health care from just being doctor and nurse driven, to doctors, nurses and our Mentor Mothers.”
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his simple idea was Besser’s, an American gynaecologist, which led to the founding of m2m in 2001. At the time, he was consulting on the clinical roll-out of Prevention of Mother-toChild Transmission (PMTCT) at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. m2m has exponentially expanded and entrenched its methodology in more than 600 sites in Sub-Saharan Africa since winning its first Impumelelo Award three years ago. The organisation has become an institution in South African PMTCT interventions. It has grown into a multinational non-profit that treats 20% of the world’s HIVpositive mothers every year.
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The organisation has an impressive list of awards and an equally formidable list of more than 300 donors. They have captured the support of the world with the successful impact they are having on preventing HIV-positive mothers bear HIV-positive children. More significantly, their impact on HIV-positive women in Africa remains enormous. m2m trains and employs more than a thousand field staff who provide comprehensive support to other HIV-positive pregnant women as ‘Mentor Mothers’. These women have to complete a rigorous training curriculum before working for m2m followed by a mandatory 13-month work term.
Isabel Nzuza, a Mentor Mother at a rural KwaZulu-Natal hospital says: “I did not know that to be HIV-positive will open my gates. I thought that as I am HIV-positive, my life will never be the same. With my salary from m2m, I built a four-roomed house, and my house is now furnished. We stay there with my six children. I am a single parent. I thank God and m2m because I had no hope that I will still be alive”. Mentor Mothers like Isabel are paired with women who come in for their first antenatal visit. A Mentor Mother determines what expectant mothers already know about HIV. After the initial assessments, Mentor Mothers accompany mothers to any medical
appointments and help them with any referrals where needed. They also lead support groups and group meetings with all the women in the programme to create a community of support. Mentor Mothers ensure that women receive the full spectrum of care, feel secure, and also monitor that treatment is administered correctly during birth to prevent transmission. m2m’s counselling and support are as essential to the success of its PMTCT services as is the provision of Nevirapine. Babalwa Mbono, a former patient of Besser’s and now m2m employee says: “we make sure people are empowered to be able to stand for themselves and do things for themselves. Medication can be there, but we need people to be strong and empowered.” m2m’s innovation to the conventional health care model – adding Mentor Mothers to improve PMTCT services – is much-needed as Sub-Saharan Africa has 24% of the globe’s Mother-to-Child-Transmission
burden, and only 3% of the world’s health care workforce. Mentor Mothers provide the necessary psychosocial care, lacking because of the over burdened system which makes it difficult for nurses to give each mother the personalised attention she needs. Mentor Mothers help women after delivery answer questions about feeding, finding family care, and dealing with HIV as a mother. They go the extra mile, travelling to women’s homes when required, inviting families into m2m sites for education or support. This extension of their services also allows Mentor Mothers to provide community education on reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in townships and villages. In order for m2m to be as successful as it is, they focus on strong partnerships with governments and health departments. Its methodology is being institutionalised into existing health departments. Already in KwaZulu-Natal, policy requires that every HIV-positive mother that comes in for antenatal
care must see a Mentor Mother. It is undeniable that m2m improves health care services, given that more than 95% of mothers in the programme are tested for HIV and nearly all of them give birth to HIV-negative children, compared with South Africa’s national average. m2m currently operates in 680 sites in the following countries: • 343 sites in seven provinces across South Africa – Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, North West, Limpopo and Gauteng • 77 sites in Kenya • 66 sites in Lesotho • 46 sites in Malawi • 48 sites in Rwanda • 49 sites in Swaziland • 41 sites in Zambia • 10 sites in Uganda Award sponsored by:
Steven Guy (Communications Consultant) PO Box 841, Cape Town, 8000 Tel: +27 21 466 9160 • Fax: +27 21 462 4868 • Email: steven@m2m.org
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Ndlovu Care Group Dr Hugo Tempelman How does a community clinic in the rural Moutse District, near Groblersdal, in Limpopo take 16 years to grow into a cutting edge rural development hub? Sir Richard Branson, in his latest book ‘Business Stripped Bare, Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur’ elaborates: “the idea was to create a one-stop-shop for primary health care, to include a pharmacy, X-ray, and obstetrics facilities, a HIV/AIDS patient-care clinic, and a laboratory. Hugo had not only built such a centre; he had helped create an entire economic infrastructure with basic utilities such as water, electricity, roads, and even a bakery, car wash, and a nappy-manufacturing factory!”
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he ‘Hugo’ mentioned in Branson’s book, who he describes as a “wonderful doctor and extraordinary social entrepreneur”, is Dr Hugo Tempelman. With his wife Liesje, this Dutch couple founded the Ndlovu Care Group in 1994. Branson, through Virgin Unite, is one of the partners of Ndlovu’s replication efforts – Bhubezi Clinic, in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. Opened in 2007, it serves more than 100 000 people, sees between 3 500 and 4 000 patients every month, and provides ARVs to more than 2 500 people. The adherence rate has increased to 78% in only three years. Bhubezi is based on the model the Tempelman’s pioneered at the original Ndlovu Medical Centre in Elandsdoorn, for which the initiative
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received a Platinum Impumelelo Award in 2008. The ability of Ndlovu’s Rural Advancement Programmes (RAPs) to create and nurture social capital has received widespread local and international acclaim. RAPs are a multitude of social, economic, educational, nutritional and infrastructural projects that accompany a well-run medical facility. This is not to mention the impact it has had on the lives of thousands of rural South Africans that have benefitted from its work. As a blueprint for holistic rural community redress, the Ndlovu RAPs’ model empowers communities to address their own problems. As Chief Operating Officer, Mariette Slabbert
explains: “what we’re doing in effect is to delegate all the problems of the community, back to the community, and in turn they become self-sustainable through looking after those problems.” What is central to Hugo’s success in developing communities is Ndlovu’s emphasis on human capital investment. For example, the Bhubezi Clinic, which employs 50 people, includes three local doctors on a fulltime basis. Hugo explains Ndlovu’s
human resource strategy as follows: “excellent medical infrastructure and technology can attract back skilled professionals like doctors and trained nurses into rural areas. Because of the chronic underdevelopment of former homeland areas and the lack of medical infrastructure, these people find jobs in the city and local skills are lost”. Some may consider Ndlovu’s excellent medical infrastructure an understatement in comparison to other rural clinics. Its laboratory has a stateof-the-art IT system that is connected to an electronic patient thumbprint identification machine. When a patient’s thumbprint is scanned, all their laboratory results are instantly available allowing for an efficient tracking system. Another notch in Ndlovu’s belt is their ability to equip rural communities with proficiency in technological innovation. Disposing of medical waste in rural South Africa was increasingly becoming a problem as staff need to travel far distances to have it destroyed.
This problem was compounded by an even bigger growing concern – prolific illegal dumping. Hugo and the local builders created an innovative medical waste incinerator – based on the idea of a pottery kiln – that reaches temperatures high enough to destroy not only harmful medical waste but also eliminate all carcinogens from the smoke. As a jewel in rural Limpopo and Mpumalanga’s crown, Ndlovu is an organisation that freely shares its lessons and assists local NGOs to strengthen their capacity. It also partners with various government agencies that include Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Justice. Ndlovu’s model recognises that successful schemes do not need to be reinvented if they are already working. Hugo explains: “As an NGO, we don’t try to take over, but add on, and make the systems work.” One such system that was not
working was the Elandsdoorn’s inadequate water infrastructure and reticulation system. Ndlovu developed a water project that provided 36 boreholes with electrical pumps, water towers, standpipes and a maintenance team that repairs and services the water pumps. Local water boards enable the community to manage their own water resources. Currently, they are installing six more stand-alone water supply systems and have secured funding for another 12. And Hugo keeps “adding on.” Besides the Ndlovu and Bhubezi Medical Centres, Ndlovu replicated their model at the recently opened Nyanti Medical Centre in Klaserie, Limpopo and another centre is under construction in Utah, Warmbaths. The project’s dream is to replicate the Ndlovu Model throughout rural South Africa in partnership with government and local communities to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and end the cycle of poverty. Award sponsored by:
Mariette Slabbert (Chief of Operations) PO Box 1508, Groblersdal 0470 Tel: +27 13 262 9000 • Fax: +27 13 262 3498 • Email: mariettes@ndlovu.com
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Etafeni Trust Mrs Stephanie Kilroe “Children are just children – everywhere - no matter what their circumstances. They want to play with their friends and have fun and be happy. Every child should have the right to t obe beprotected, protected,nurtured, nurtured,loved loved and well cared for. That’s why I support Stephanie Kilroe whose unique vision creates a safe haven for children to be supported in this way” said Annie Lennox after putting her support behind Stephanie Kilroe and the Etafeni Trust with a whopping donation.
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ilroe is the founder of Etafeni and has been at the helm of this project since its inception in 2001. Almost a decade later, Etafeni today stands as an organisation at the forefront of service provision for the modern HIV-affected urban family. It all started with the Etafeni Day Care Centre, a 2006 Gold Impumelelo Award-Winner. The centre was opened in 2003 and is an oasis of HIV-care and support in the township of Nyanga. A Mothers and Infants project was started to provide support for HIVpositive mothers and their babies, with a Voluntary Counselling, Testing and TB-screening programme. HIV-positive mothers were provided with training in sewing, beading, and patchwork. A pool of 50 women now earns a steady
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income through completing orders for international HIV/AIDS conferences, various Woolworths suppliers and the Teresa Group. Etafeni also runs a successful after-school programme to accommodate vulnerable children. Here children from secondary and high school receive educational support and meals, are provided with safe spaces to do their homework and play, engage in sporting activities and music therapy. An on-site food garden, with fruit trees, is maintained to support the other programmes. Impumelelo evaluator, Karin Chubb, recalls: “one needs to visit the project to experience just how special it is. There is a sense of order and structure throughout the project – a result of excellent management and training,
and it is something that cannot be faked. There is a sense that everything is going well, children are relaxing into the safe spaces made for them. The sense of order which is created – by seemingly insignificant things like the weekly crèche menu on the wall – is very significant. Children who have experienced trauma need the security of a predictable routine, because that, in itself, becomes part of a healing process”. Kilroe has now extended this healing process to young adults, helping them find direction after finishing school. Etafeni’s ‘Fit for Life – Fit for Work’ Programme has mentored 240 unemployed young people between the ages of 18 and 30 years old since 2007. It boasts an 80% success rate in helping youth find paid employment,
internships with stipends, or tertiary studies with a bursary. The intensive training takes 12 weeks, targeting young people who have matriculated and who have potential but lack the support and knowledge to explore options for employment. Lingiwe (25) who is currently in the programme comments: “I have come to learn about myself. I did not know what ‘Fit for Life – Fit for Work’ was. They taught us how to communicate, and to start by respecting yourself. I was so scared to stand up in front of people, but now I can. Now I can make eye contact. Our secrets are safe in the group, I started to talk about things I had never spoken about before, and now I am free”. These are some of the issues addressed in the first ‘Fit for Life’ phase of the programme. It focuses on life skills and the personal development of young people. The course includes issues of self-awareness, setting personal goals, and how to resist pressures that might limit their ability to achieve them. Sexuality, depression, conflict resolution, and substance abuse are also discussed and students are allowed safe spaces to discuss issues that are important to them. In the second “Fit for Work” phase, students are taught English, computer literacy, typing and other work-related skills. Learner and driving license support are also offered. Students are assisted to write a CV, prepare
for interviews, and to evaluate their options for career paths. The focus of the mentoring is to build the individual capacity of youth so they can be successful in any work they choose. Specialised vocational training is also provided in areas such as hospitality and customer service, electrical engineering, and tourism. Pamela Mnyango is a graduate of the programme and hopes her peers too can benefit: “everybody’s so confused after Matric about what to do. This project is actually helping us set our goals and what we want to do in life. This is actually encouraging the youth who are just sitting at home, doing nothing. It encourages them also to be confident. So I’m hoping if I go out of Etafeni I will go to other people, maybe friends of mine, just sitting doing nothing, to come to Etafeni and get help.” Before entering the programme, candidates are interviewed and chosen only if they demonstrate potential and the drive to meet its rigorous standards. Etafeni maintains a close relationship with students, providing a 12-month period of support after graduation. Organisations who employ young people from Etafeni feel secure about its graduates, knowing they have been groomed by a reputable
organisation. Kilroe’s reputation and drive has been noticed by many organisations. Notably, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Annie Lennox’s SING Campaign, have partnered with her and the Vrygrond Community Development Trust to replicate the Etafeni model in Vrygrond. Elton John, an existing Etafeni funder explains: “I visited Etafeni in 2007 and found it a place of such warmth, purpose and hope. We were keen to work with them to replicate the programme elsewhere. When Annie Lennox and the SING Campaign approached us with the offer of raising money via RTL’s Spendenmarathon charity telethon, it was an ideal partnership for a second centre.” The Vrygrond centre was personally opened by Elton John, David Furnish and Annie Lennox on the 24th of March this year.
Award sponsored by:
Stephanie Kilroe (Founder) Etafeni Day Care Centre, Sihume Road, Nyanga, 7750 Tel: +27 21 386 1516 • Fax: +27 21 685 6690 Email: luvuyo@intermail.co.za or stephanie@intermail.co.za
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ENERGY 16 Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism Pilot Project 18 e’Thekwini Municipality: Durban Landfill Gas to Electricity Project 14
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Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism Pilot Project
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“A geyser is nice, like a cup of tea is nice, but a ceiling - a ceiling is a revolution,” says Zuko Ndamane, the Kuyasa Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Pilot Project Site Manager. He is part of the Kuyasa team that has retrofitted 2 300 low-cost homes with solar water heaters, insulated ceilings, and energy-efficient lighting in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. This intervention is offsetting 6 000 tons of C02 every year. It was South Africa’s first internationally-registered CDM project under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change and it is the first Gold Standard Project in the world.
uyasa was developed by the NGO – SouthSouthNorth – for the City of Cape Town’s Environmental Resource Management Department and Urban Renewal Programme, with a price tag of approximately R30 million. They started retrofitting houses in August 2008 as part of a plan to tackle urban poverty and environmental issues. Although South Africa has made strides in building low-cost houses since 1994, most of these houses have been built with little thought to thermal-comfort or energy-efficiency. Due to their poor construction, families spend a large portion of their income on energy
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costs. Carl Wesselink, Project Manager of Kuyasa, hopes that eventually three million low-income houses will be able to enjoy the benefits of the project’s ingenuity. In July 2009, a sample survey of 700 residents was conducted. It revealed that a staggering 96% of households are very satisfied with the installation and maintenance provided. There has been a 56% decrease in the number of households spending more than R100 per month on electricity, with reported savings of an average R50 per month per household. Houses that relied on paraffin, which is not only expensive but also dangerous, have virtually
stopped using paraffin heaters. Some houses are reporting up to R400 in savings per month, and most houses experience an average saving of R150 per house per month during the winter. However, Kuyasa is not just saving people money. There has also been a dramatic decrease in respiratory illness and improved safety as houses do away with open flame heaters. Roofing without ceilings, with the combination of paraffin heaters, created large amounts of condensation – an ideal atmosphere for causing diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. The combination of insulated ceilings and doing away with paraffin heaters has
massively reduced water vapour in homes, improving health conditions and thermal comfort levels. 76% of Kuyasa beneficiaries reported a decrease in the frequency of respiratory illnesses. 2.85 tons of CO2 emissions are being reduced per household every year. A relatively simple intervention makes low-cost homes five degrees warmer in winter and five degrees cooler in summer. For the incredible impact Kuyasa is having on communities and the environment, it is attracting substantial local and international interest as a pilot for the energyefficient adaptation of low-cost housing. In the process of installing solar heaters, employment has also been created. Through the retrofitting and maintenance of houses, 85 people were permanently employed. Each employee received accredited training and 1 742 people from the Kuyasa community in Khayelitsha have also attended non-accredited training. Residents, too, are noticing the change: “the project brought skills and jobs for young men; they don’t hang around street corners anymore. It has brought dignity to the
community.” Residents are amazed at the transformation of their community because of Kuyasa. Bukelwa Tyaki explains: “when my ceiling got installed, my home became warmer. And then I got my geyser and it became easier for me to get hot water. Even in the morning, I have hot water to bathe. My life has become so much easier.” Other residents say the project has given Kuyasa dignity and fostered pride in the community. Showing off the profound impact
the project has had in Khayelitsha has become an enterprise in itself. The project now offers guided tours through Kuyasa, for tourists, students and people interested in creating a similar project. A standard tour includes the screening of a six-minute video about climate change; visitors then move from the site office in Kuyasa by foot, on a 30-minute walk through the community, to see the technology used in the project and witness work in progress on some of the homes. Award sponsored by:
Karen Morris (Administrator) PO Box 12842, Mill Street, Gardens, 8010, Cape Town Tel: +27 21 461 7827 • Fax: +27 21 461 3507 • Email: kuyasacdm@telkomsa.net
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Durban Landfill Gas to Electricity Project
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South Africa generates 40 million tons of solid waste every year. There are about 1 200 landfills in South Africa that are environmental eyesores, releasing massive amounts of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. To address this, the e’Thekwini Municipality is currently spearheading Africa’s first landfill gas to electricity project at the Bisasar Road Landfill, in Durban. Through its pioneering efforts, this project demonstrates to the rest of the country’s municipalities how to spend money in order to generate money by processing landfill waste into renewable energy.
he Durban Gas to Electricity Project is run from Bisasar Road Landfill, which is the largest landfill in the e’Thekwini Municipal Area, receiving 5 000 tons of waste every day. The massive amounts of methane gas are stopped from leaking into the atmosphere by capturing it through sinking wells up to 40m deep in the landfill waste sites and funnelling it through interconnecting pipes. The pipes are attached to an underground main gas collector where the gas is then taken out with a vacuum
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pump. Not only is the Durban Gas to Electricity Project at Bisasar Road having a major environmental impact, but it has also created over 100 temporary jobs in the installation of these systems and 44 permanent jobs. Rehabilitated with indigenous plants, it is leaving a green legacy unknown to South Africa’s many unsightly dumps. In the first months of operating in 2003, Bisasar generated over 4MW of electricity. The power generated is pumped back to the city’s electricity grid, generating enough power to
supply electricity to about 3 750 houses. R7 million is generated per annum this way. The e’Thekwini model’s potential for electricity generation, however novel, is not what provides Bisasar with its viability. The main revenue-generator of this project is the sale of Certified Emission Reductions. Although the project costs about R67 million to implement, e’Thekwini stands to receive R42 million a year simply from the sale of carbon credits. The project is expected to pay for itself within a couple of years and remain
a lucrative source of revenue. John Parkin, e’Thekwini’s Clean Development Mechanism Director, is confident that similar gas to electricity projects can be started around South Africa but warns that landfill gas is a viable renewable energy source only when linked to Carbon Finance or Clean Development Mechanisms. It is estimated that further landfill gas to electricity generation projects in South Africa would cost around R10 million per MW. Although this is much more expensive than conventional electricity generation, the costs can be recouped threefold if the site is used to sell carbon credits. Parkin is currently involved in helping other municipalities implement similar operations. He is focused on saving municipalities the trouble that e’Thekwini has had to deal with during the pilot project. As such a project has never been implemented in any municipality before, initially it required substantial funding, the majority of which went to legal fees and dealing with redtape typical of municipal systems. The municipality’s project manager, Mark Wright, admits that the initial project costs were high as “there were so many
unknowns which had to be dealt with, and none of the regulatory frameworks existed, so it took a lot longer than it needed to.” But now that municipal landfill gas to electricity precedents has been set it will be easier and less expensive for other municipalities to do a project like this. At the launch of the initiative at Bisasar, Energy Minister, Dipuo Peters, praised its pioneering work: “I appeal to the e’Thekwini Municipality to help other municipalities to do this
because you have succeeded. I will tell other departments to come to you.” – and they have. Municipalities including Buffalo City, Pietermaritzburg, Howick, Johannesburg and countries including Botswana, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique, India, Malaysia, and Iran have come to visit and learn how to implement similar programmes. The municipality has hosted four civil engineering students and is helping to spread the knowledge of such technical projects in South Africa.
Award sponsored by:
John Parkin (Plant & Engineering Deputy Head) PO Box 1038, Durban, 4000 Tel: +27 31 311 8820 • Fax: +27 31 263 1119 • Email: johnpa@dmws.durban.gov.za
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ENVIRONMENT 22 e’Thekwini Municipality: Greening the Moses Mabhida Stadium
24 e’Thekwini Municipality: Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project
26 City of Cape Town: 2010 Green Goal Action Plan
28 Schools Environmental Education & Development: Organic Classroom Programme 20
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Greening the Moses Mabhida Stadium ENVIRONMENT
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The e’Thekwini Municipality’s Moses Mabhida Stadium is one of South Africa’s most “green” host city stadia built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. It is one of four ‘green’ projects in the municipality’s Greening Durban 2010 Programme. The construction of the stadium cost R3.1 billion, with estimated operation costs per annum at R28 million. It seats almost 63 000 people and has a number of features, that according to the municipality, heralds it as the first and only stadium in the country that made the biggest strides towards off-setting carbon emissions.
t will have a substantially reduced carbon footprint through its ‘green’ design, construction, and operations. Elf Oschatz, the stadium’s project manager, who was also part of the team that built the 2006 World Cup stadium in Berlin notes: “the Moses Mabhida Stadium tops most 2006 stadia in Germany in terms of environmental-friendliness and the quality of the building and the spaces.”
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‘Green’ Design Moses Mabhida was designed architecturally with several ‘green’ interventions that have reduced the energy-needs of the stadium considerably. A key aspect in reducing the electricity usage of the stadium was to optimise natural light. The open roof area and top tiers of the stands are where most of the lighting comes
through. The roof further consists of PVC light preamble material that allows maximum light to filter in. The sides of the stadium are made of steel mesh that allows sunlight to penetrate, increasing its natural ventilation. Airconditioning is minimal, private boxes being the only facilities equipped with energy-efficient air-conditioners. The large windows in the stands, and the even larger window on the
south end, also add to these ‘green’ fixtures. Only light-emitting diode and compact florescent lighting fixtures are used in and around the stadium. Several water-saving design methods were utilised, allowing the stadium to reuse rainwater collected by pipelines running off the stadium and underneath the pitch.
‘Green’ Construction All the concrete that came from the demolition of Durban’s old Kings Park Stadium was reused as filling material for the foundation of Moses Mabhida. Over 400 tons of steel, 4 000m³ of topsoil and 40 000 bricks were recycled. Even recovered wash basins, toilets and office equipment were donated to local schools and community centres. The value of this material amounted to R1 million. Furthermore, 90% of the workforce was local and all the site-workers received HIV/AIDS-training. Local, small and medium-sized businesses will be used for 70% of the stadium’s maintenance and repairs.
‘Green’ Operation By creating an energy-efficient design and construction methodology, the e’Thekwini Municipality is set to save R756 000 annually through energy-efficient lighting systems. The municipality will save R703 000 through efficient water fixtures, lowflush toilets and showers, rainwater harvesting, water-wise landscaping and good irrigation systems. Annual water consumption for the stadium is expected to be at 17 717 m3 per year as opposed to 59 112 m3 per year if they used conventional methods. This watersaving is equivalent to 17 Olympic-size swimming pools per year. The electricity systems are computerised and operated from one central location, allowing for usage to be effectively controlled and monitored. The Moses Mabhida Stadium was created as a multi-purpose sports stadium and events-hosting facility for post-World Cup events. The temporary extra seats erected on the upper tiers of the stadium were built to comply with FIFA’s 70 000-seat capacity requirements.
This surface area is large enough to accommodate an athletics track. It will be removed and plans are in place for it to be used for various commerciallyviable ventures. The iconic 350m high, 106m wide arch running from the south to the north of the stadium is a major tourist attraction. Its ‘Skycar’, which travels to the highest point on the arch, allow visitors to enjoy 360 degree views of the city. Daredevils can even bungee jump and swing out in a huge 220m arc under the iconic arch. Moses Mabhida represents a new municipal precedent in ‘green’ thinking that will be the future of mega-events hosted in South Africa. Between 50 to 60 engineers, architects, other specialists and municipal officials from e’Thekwini have garnered skills that will stand them in good stead. This experience will equip officials to develop new municipal policy and building standards. Nicci Diederichs, Environmental Manager for the Greening Durban 2010 Programme says: “this is a visualisation of some first steps,” hoping that Moses Mabhida will be a springboard for more ‘green’ projects in future. Award sponsored by:
Dr Debra Roberts (Environment Planning & Climate Protection Deputy Head) PO Box 680, Durban, 4000 Tel: +27 31 311 7527 • Fax: +27 31 311 7134 • Email: robertsd@durban.gov.za
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Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project ENVIRONMENT
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“Waste deposited to landfills to be reduced by 50% in 2012.” “Zero waste to landfills by 2022.” These are the goals set out in the Polokwane Declaration on Waste Management for the e’Thekwini Municipality. With two million tons of waste produced annually within the municipality, it is achieving this goal having established South Africa’s first city-wide domestic recycling project.
n August 2007, the Durban Solid Waste (DSW) Unit initiated a pilot recycling project in the outerwest areas of the metropolitan. Approximately 50 000 households were supplied with a pack of 15 orange bags each, strictly for paper and recyclable plastics. In the last quarter of 2008, DSW recovered 100 tons of paper and recyclable plastics a month – up from 20 tons a month in 2007. The ‘recycling package’ households receive is adequate for 13 weeks and is composed of 15 recyclable orange bags, containing printed messages
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and a recycling instruction pamphlet. Should homes run out of bags there is a DSW helpline they can call. These packages are assembled by Challenge Unlimited, a local NGO that works with the intellectually-challenged. Over the next four years they will be paid 4c per bag with 300 000 bags supplied every month. Over 400 people have benefited directly from the project in this way as job creation is one of the pillars of this initiative. Six small BEE contractors, each operating four to five vehicles, collect the
bags and transport it to the Maydon Wharf Depot. They are awarded fiveyear tenders and DSW pays them R400 per ton delivered. Given the success of the pilot project, the Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project was rolled-out to
the inner-west, north and central Durban areas. Now the project reaches 900 000 homes and prevents 800 tons of paper and recyclable plastics (of which approximately 500 tons are paper) to be deposited into local landfills. Their statistics have shown that more than 50% of homes that receive their ‘recycling package’ participate. This project is an effective example of strong public-private partnerships – between the e’Thekwini Municipality and Mondi. e’Thekwini provides 70% of the funding and Mondi provides the remaining 30%. Mondi pays twothirds of the contractors’ fees and half of the production costs of the orange bags. The bags cost 77c each which includes the costs of the user pamphlets and packaging. Mondi too has benefited from the project, expanding their operations and employing 60 to 70 new labourers, who sort the bags that are delivered. The recovered plastics are dispatched to local plastic-recycling businesses in Durban. Central to the success of the project was its media campaign and doorto-door education drive. The media
campaign was achieved at no cost to the project through partnerships with local media outlets, which saved the municipality an estimated R2 million. One million educational booklets were also printed in three languages and distributed to residents and local schools to teach the community about the project and the benefits of recycling. DSW’s education department recruited 30 unemployed community members to go around to peoples’ homes for this purpose. Households are also monitored because if some homes incorrectly separate their waste they are sent a letter alerting them to this. Additionally, the DSW helpline has proved useful for people to call with questions about collection-times or what is acceptable to recycle. This project has been so successful that a can and glass-bottle project is set to commence in 2010. Without having to create any new by-laws, the e’Thekwini Municipality has shown other local governments how to leverage citizens’ interest in recycling for responsible waste management. e’Thekwini is sharing this project with the municipalities of Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg and Hibiscus Coast.
The Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project: • Saves 8 500 trees every month as one ton of manufactured paper from virgin wood fibre requires the felling of 17 trees; • Results in 40% energyreduction, as less energy is now required to manufacture paper; • Saves three cubic meters of landfill space for every ton of paper recycled; • Conserves an incredible amount of water, as it takes 3 000 litres of water to make 1kg of paper.
Award sponsored by:
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Neeri Govender (Public Relations Officer) PO Box 1038, Durban, 4000 Tel: +27 31 311 8841 • Fax: +27 31 263 1119 • Email: neerigo@dmws.durban.gov.za IMPUMELELO
Green Goal Action Plan
ENVIRONMENT
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In co-hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Provincial Government developed a Green Goal Action Plan to ensure that the event adhered to environmental and socially-responsible principles. The Action Plan was developed after an initial series of workshops sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. The workshops, conducted from August 2007 to early 2009, consulted with government, local business leaders, civil society and non-governmental organisations on strategies to “green” the event.
he workshops encouraged collaboration between these relevant parties and developed projects to create environmental awareness, minimise waste, use energy efficiently, conserve water, practice responsible tourism and construct a sustainable infrastructure for hosting the World Cup. Ultimately, it aimed to ensure that the projects would improve the environment of the city and province. The Green Goal Action Plan targeted:
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EnergyandClimateChange Water Conservation First, the City of Cape Town determined the estimated carbon footprint of the World Cup, and identified areas that could be optimised to reduce it. These changes included installing additional lighting controls in Green Point Stadium, retrofitting street and traffic lights with energy-efficient fixtures, installing solar water heaters and energy-efficient lights in low-income homes in places such as Darling, a rural town along the West Coast.
One of the City’s aims is to reduce water usage by minimising the use of potable water and promoting conservation practices. Some of the measures included re-routing water from the Oranjezicht Springs to provide irrigation to the Green Point Stadium, which cut down a third of the costs of using potable water. The city also installed tanks to harvest rainwater, water-efficient fittings on showers, taps and toilets, and used water-wise landscaping.
IntegratedWasteManagement The FIFA Local Organising Committee set a target of 20% for recycling and diversion of waste from landfill sites. To do this, the city invested in reusable items such as cutlery and crates, prohibited promotional handouts at stadium and fan fest entrances, promoted the use of commemorative cups instead of singleuse cups, minimised the packaging of merchandise and food sold, and composted organic waste. Separate waste bins were also strategically placed around the city.
Transport,MobilityandAccess A safe dual walking and cycling route from Cape Town Station to Green Point Stadium was created, eliminating the need for public and private transport. To encourage this, small entrepreneurs were assisted with setting up bicycletaxi services and developing their business skills.
LandscapingandBiodiversity To promote indigenous landscaping and enhance the natural environment of public parks, the city trained maintenance staff in indigenous gardening. An eco-centre was erected to advise citizens about living ‘greener’ lives. The proposed Smart Living Centre in Green Point Park has a garden, play areas, a worm farm, a public and outdoor art pavilion, a recycling centre and a bicycle rental facility. Student’s design ideas were used to transform popular routes and create a city beautification and tree-planting campaign.
Green Building and Sustainable Lifestyles
The City of Cape Town launched initiatives to educate the public about climate change and encourage suitable
practices, such as appointing a theatre group to go around to 40 ear-marked schools to create awareness among children about the environment. The Athlone and Philippi Stadia have been environmentally-upgraded as training grounds. Together with local NGOs working in the sector, communities will be educated about the need to protect newly-planted trees and prevent illegal dumping.
Responsible Tourism
For the thousands of tourists who have descended upon Cape Town during the World Cup, and the increase in publicity and future visitors, the City tried to inculcate a tradition of responsible tourism. They created a code of responsible conduct for visitors, conducted responsible tourism awareness training programmes and created an environmental accreditation system for the accommodation sector. The ‘Cape Town Green Map’ has been successful in alerting Capetonians and visitors alike on ‘green’ areas in the city, including farmers’ markets, ecotourism sites and recycling centres. Award sponsored by:
Lorraine Gerrans (Manager) 44 Wale Street, Cape Town, 8001 Tel: +27 21 487 2024 • Fax: +27 21 487 2339 • Email: lorraine.gerrans@capetown.gov.za
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Organic Classroom Programme To introduce information about Permaculture into poor communities, SEED (Schools Environmental Education and Development) partners with local teachers and students to help them create productive Permaculture gardens at their schools. Permaculture is a method of agricultural production that utilizes ecologically-sustainable technologies to grow plants. These gardens function as educational resources for teachers and provide alternative extra-curricular activity for school children. Through this, SEED aims to develop ecologically-intelligent young people from within the schooling system, while simultaneously addressing issues of food security.
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o realise this goal, SEED launched their Organic Classroom Programme in 2000. Firstly, interested teachers were identified from their ‘Teachers for Permaculture Education’ courses. Each course empowered approximately 30 teachers from 10 to 15 schools to initiate their own school gardens. Teachers are required to link their gardens to existing school subjects such as the Natural and Social Sciences, Arts and Culture, Economic Management Systems, Language and Life Orientation. The project partners
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ENVIRONMENT
with a teacher and their school for three years. The methodology for each year is different, focusing on nurturing specific skills as the garden develops annually. SEED’s Organic Classroom Programme has been initiated in 26 schools in Cape Town, Limpopo, Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and the Karoo. All of SEED’s work is integrated with the National Curriculum through its textbooks. The absence of manuals on Permaculture inspired SEED to create various materials in accordance with the Department of Education. They are all accredited with the Education,
Training and Development Practices SETA, including the Agricultural SETA. More than 300 teachers and other Permaculture professionals have been trained with this resource.
YearOne:‘GreenBeginnings’ Two full-time SEED facilitators, in partnership with a school, plan and construct their garden to function as a fenced outdoor classroom. The children are taught about fundamental agricultural themes. They create indigenous windbreaks (necessary for areas on the Cape Flats), rain harvesting systems (by connecting tanks to drains and using ‘grey’ water from the schools’ basins), and develop compost and mulch systems. They also establish a productive ‘food forest’ which mimics natural forests by planting mutually beneficial species of plants together. After six months, school gardens are assessed using SEED’s Sustainability Index. If they are ready, the school begins a food garden. If not, they continue developing perennial systems.
YearTwo:‘GreenBusiness’ The second year of the programme helps children learn about incomegeneration through permaculture and develop a garden-based entrepreneurial system. One full-time SEED facilitator assists in enriching school garden systems and also focuses on getting them to function independently. SEED has recently started a Saturday market where all participant schools sell the organic products they have created from their gardens. This is both a good entrepreneurial activity for schools and a novel recreational event for local township communities. Some of the products that have been sold include: jams, herbal teas, toilet sprays and dried herbs.
YearThree:‘GreenAchievers’ In the final year, schools are able to operate on their own with additional support from SEED. This phase focuses on specific troubleshooting and further training. Currently, most of the schools in the programme are in year one and two. An example of a fully-fledged ‘Green Achiever’ school is SEED’s oldest established garden at their headquarters – Rocklands Primary in Mitchell’s Plain. Most inputs such as fertiliser, mulch, plants, seeds and seedling needed for the Organic Classroom Programme in the surrounding areas are supplied by this garden which is part of the project’s financial sustainability. Theo Oldjohn, facilitator for the ‘Green Business’ phase, says: “one thing this project has done is to open minds, the minds of the people and
the minds of the children.” A student from Rocklands Primary, Teri-Ann Anderson, one of more than 14 000 children around the country that have been part of the Organic Classroom Programme says: “I love planting and mulching things because it is part of the environment to care for the environment and people.” Cameron Dugmore, former Provincial Minister for Education, praised the project: “SEED’s Organic Classroom Programme has the potential to help transform our education system by fostering inspiring learning and participation in food growth using Permaculture principles. In this way it can help to prepare our society for the radical changes that lie ahead in the production and distribution of food. I support SEED and their work at transforming learning through Permaculture.” Award sponsored by:
Leigh Brown (Director) PO Box 621, Caravelle 7787 Tel: +27 21 391 5316 • Fax: +27 86 543 5065 • Email: leigh@seed.org.za
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Amalinda Village
HOUSING 30 Social Housing Company: Amalinda Village
Since 1994, over two million RDP houses have been built in South Africa. But there is still a huge backlog of approximately two million housing units, affecting 12 million people. The country’s housing response caters overwhelmingly for the most poor – shack dwellers – but often neglects the ‘Gap Housing’ market. These are families who earn between R2 500 and R7 500 a month. They do not qualify for government’s subsidised housing and do not earn enough to access home loans. Much has been written about the benefits of low-income rental housing because it offers households entry into the housing market, but few such schemes exist.
T HOUSING
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he Social Housing Company (SOHCO), one of the first of such institutions in the country, started in 1999 to address this gap in the housing market. The Amalinda Village is an example of how sound business systems and top-quality higherdensity housing construction offer low-income families an opportunity for upward mobility. The medium-density residential complex is located in central East London in the Amalinda suburb, situated 500m away from Frere Hospital and 20 minutes away from the Airport, next to the main road
into East London’s central business district. It has 44 apartment blocks with 598 units that include: 482 (40m2) two-bedroom units; 66 (33m2) one-bedroom units; 40 (52m2) three-bedroom units; and 10 loft apartments. Rent ranges from R1 172 for a one-bedroom unit to R2 265 for a three-bedroom unit. Rent is not set in stone, but assessed on a case-by-case basis and it is not allowed to exceed 30% of prospective tenants’ gross monthly salary. This is just one of the examples of how SOHCO manages Amalinda. Six members of the team live on-site and have
consolidated relationships with tenants who are able to raise any issues about rental collection and maintenance immediately. The housing village is also managed in part by an elected tenants’ committee, with meetings held regularly between the committee and the SOHCO management. An education process starts with tenants even before they move into their units. There is a waiting list and potential occupants are screened and interviewed beforehand. A series of workshops are run to guarantee that tenants understand what SOHCO offers and what the mutual rights and duties are for living in the housing village. When approved, tenants attend an additional training session that includes issues of home maintenance, household budgeting and information on the rentto-buy options. Amalinda has a four-year “Rentto-Buy” option to encourage future home-ownership, which almost 50% of residents have taken up. 106 units have been transferred in this way. The mixture of tenure options ensures healthy peer pressure to pay monthly rent. With successful administration, Amalinda sports a near 100% occupancy rate, a rental collection rate of 98%, and a tenant turnover rate of less than 1% per month.
The location and affordability of Amalinda are not its only appealing aspects. The design of the complex maximises sunlight, takes comfort into account and allows for pedestrian-friendly pathways with communal parking lots. There are also other communal facilities, such as playgrounds on lush green spaces and braai facilities to contribute to the neighbourhood atmosphere. This is not just an area where people co-exist; it is a community where families want to raise their children. Building Amalinda cost approximately R60 million. Units cost between R65 000 to R160 000. SOHCO started Amalinda, as a pilot project with funding from the Flemish Government, the National Housing Finance Corporation and 300 social housing institutional subsidies from the provincial Department of Housing. Amalinda commendably sustains itself from its rental income. Dr Paul Hendler from Probitas, a real estate and finance education company and independent evaluator of SOHCO in 2006/ 07, comments on its social housing business model: “most institutions go through crisis after crisis in attempting to manage
rental stock and collecting rent. The fact that it could run a project like Amalinda without a structured soft loan, or hidden subsidies, but on the basis of cost-recovery from rental collections and build a surplus is a fairly unique exception”. This project was so successful as a pilot that SOHCO has already built housing villages in other areas including Cape Town and Durban. There are now three social housing projects in Durban – River View, Port View and Valley View; two projects in East London – the flagship Amalinda Village and Emerald Sky; and one project in Cape Town – Steenberg. The projects have Presidential Job Summit status and are national pilots for the new National Department of Housing Restructuring Capital Grant Scheme. Award sponsored by:
Margaret Johannisen (Manager) PO Box 19509, Tecoma, Berea, 5214 Tel: +27 43 741 3735 • Fax: +27 43 741 4857 • Email: margaret@sohco.co.za
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SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT & SOCIALWELFARE 34 Athlone Institute Trusts
36 Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity
38 Music Therapy Community Clinic
40 The Dreamfields Project
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Athlone Institute Trusts
Errol Joubert*, an ex-inmate from Hawequa Correctional Centre in Wellington, was worried about getting a job and supporting his family after his release. Fortunately, Hawequa subscribes to a rehabilitation and reintegration policy to avert recidivism. With the philosophy that prisoners need to be rehabilitated to reform, or else they will just wind up back in the system, Errol received welding-training while he was incarcerated. “I am going to use this opportunity,” he says, excited about skills development programmes on offer in the prison.
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he training Errol received is one of many programmes made possible by the Athlone Institute Trusts (AIT) that operates in Paarl and its surrounding areas in the Western Cape. Established in 1926, AIT is a social development conglomerate that was created by the financial associations of five local churches. This synergy spawned three Trusts that was started in 1997 – the Athlone Institute Trust, the Athlone Fund Trust and the Athlone Charitable Trust. The Trusts diversify and manage the financial investments of the umbrella
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trust (AIT), enabling it to identify and support community projects to help alleviate poverty in the area. The late John Martin who spearheaded AIT for many years commented: “the Athlone Institute Trusts and its achievements are for us a proud manifestation of what the community, which was earlier neglected and robbed of their pride, rights and sense of community, can do for itself.” There are three major committees of the AIT. The Project Assessment Committee with the help of the community, identify social needs and
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then make it possible for businesses to implement strategies to address them. It evaluates new projects with stringent criteria, provides seed-funding, and ‘hands-on’ assistance to programmes selected for sponsorship by the AIT. This committee is involved with a number of local projects which include a library for the blind, a home for the elderly, soup kitchens and the provision of clothes and food-parcels for the poor. A new project is chosen each year and funded for five years on a diminishing capitalisation method so that it can have start-up help from
AIT and ultimately become selfsustainable. Martin explained: “We try to make the community aware of the fact that they must address their own shortcomings within their own communities.” From 1998 to 2008 AIT had disbursed more than R3 million to community projects. The second committee – the Athlone Institute Bursary Fund – provides bursaries and study loans to young people entering tertiary education. In 2008, bursaries amounting to R290 600 and R86 850 in study loans were awarded to 66 applicants. These young people had to meet criteria which include a sound academic record and evidence of local community service. Applicants are interviewed and once selected, are mentored during their studies and provided with incentives to achieve good results. The Athlone House of Strength – the third committee – provides a safe haven for up to 40 abused women and 18 children. The home was built in May 2005 with labour from the Hawequa and Allandale Correctional Centres and was officially opened in 2008. Women and children are provided with accommodation for at least six months with a support staff of nine, including one social worker. House of Strength provides computer training, sewing lessons, counselling, creates therapeutic crafting groups and acts as a one-stop empowerment centre for victims of abuse. The shelter also has an early learning centre that cares for up to 38 pre-school children. Some of the smaller initiatives AIT supports are the Church in-House Project – a data-capturing programme that digitises church records. This enables local churches to obtain copies of birth, death and marriage certificates needed for things like land claims and accessing social
grants. There is also a successful skills-development project run at the Hawequa Correctional Centre that young men, like Errol, benefit from. It teaches welding skills to 12 inmates at a time and was made possible through AIT’s donation of R250 000’s worth of welding equipment. Gerald Botha an AIT representative involved with the corrections project mentions: “We try to get the inmates prepared when they go to the free world. They’ll be able to support their families. The certificate they receive enables them to do things for themselves. They went in there with nothing and now they come out being prepared for the world.” The AIT is a testament to the potential for local community organisations to pool their resources and make an even bigger impact than they ever could individually. Due to the Trusts’ sound financial management and governance, its accumulated funds have been able to grow from R179 000 in 1984 to R18 146 204 in 2009. Impumelelo evaluator, Mike Savage praises the project: “There must be few, if any, such projects that, using the resources of a deprived community, have built from them a basis of future financial sustainability for development. This alone is an amazing feat.” *Pseudonym
Award sponsored by:
Karel Jonkers (Acting Chief Executive Officer) PO Box 9116, Huguenot, Paarl, 7645 Tel: +27 21 862 2312 • Fax: +27 21 862 9983 • Email: wardens@theparish.co.za
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Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity
SOCIALDEVELOPMENT & SOCIALWELFARE
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Jacob Ngonyama* is 14 years old and lives with his seven siblings and his grandmother after his parents passed away. This year he received his first toothbrush and face cloth, saying: “I feel good. I will take care of it.” He is one of the 2 500 children that received cosmetic health packs from Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity (NOAH).
scar van Vuuren* was missing from school for several days and his teachers approached NOAH volunteers to see if they knew anything about his whereabouts. They went to Oscar’s home and found that his mother, too, had died. He had been told not to tell anyone that his mom was sick. Too afraid to tell anyone she had passed away, and unable to reach his grandmother because of a flood, he sat with his dead mother in the hot summer for several days. NOAH immediately went into action and secured him a grant from the Department of Home Affairs and reunited him with his grandmother. Two
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years later, Oscar is doing well in school and NOAH provides him with ongoing emotional support and counselling. These two stories are just some examples of the way NOAH helps more than two million orphans living in South Africa. NOAH was established in 2000, and is based in Johannesburg and operates in Gauteng and KwaZuluNatal. They seek to provide support and security to orphans because by 2015 it is estimated that 10% of the country’s workforce will be made up of adults who were orphans. Joslyn Walker, Communications Manager at NOAH, presents the situation succinctly: “they can grow up neglected, angry, and lost. Or they can grow up knowing
community support, strength, empathy and love. That’s what we provide at our Arks”, because “we cannot build orphanages for them, we cannot institutionalise them.” An ‘Ark’ is a web of support that NOAH helps communities to create in order to address their specific problems with orphaned and vulnerable children. Firstly, a particular community approaches NOAH for help in caring for children at risk. After meeting with community groups including teachers, extended families, local entrepreneurs, pastors, political and traditional leaders, a committee is elected. Working with an Ark Manager from NOAH, the committee is trained to run various
programmes to care for the children. Volunteers are then recruited by the committee with NOAH providing mentoring and support in order for these Arks to function eventually as independent early childhood development centres that must raise their own funding. There are currently 107 Arks in South Africa. Of which 34 are in Gauteng, and 73 in KwaZuluNatal, caring for over 28 000 children, with an army of approximately 516 volunteers and over 800 committee members. An additional six Arks have become self-sustainable and continue to operate as NOAH Alumni. Four Arks are directly funded by government. In 2003 NOAH had one Ark, with 20 volunteers that looked after 250 children. In 2008 they had 101 Arks, with 1 000 volunteers that were supporting more than 20 000 children! *Pseudonym
The range of services that each Ark provides in their community includes: • R egistration of orphans and vulnerable children with relevant agencies which also help a particular Ark understand the extent of the problem in their community; • C onsistent home visitations, where children are supported with the help of social workers; • C linical nutrition interventions that provide nutritional supplements and food parcels for children; • Training to create and maintain food gardens; • C hild protection interventions to help children get their identity documents and birth certificates; • General health care provision; • HIV-prevention education; • P sychosocial support for children dealing with stress and bereavement; • E arly Childhood Development educational support activities, which assist children in accessing libraries, computers, cultural and sporting activities; • Training, mentoring and support of care providers. Award sponsored by:
Katie Andrews (Resource Development Manager) PO Box 4043, Rivonia, 2128 Tel: +27 11 234 2270 • Fax: +27 11 234 2271 • Email: irene@noahorphans.org.za
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Music Therapy Community Clinic “When my sister was two, I was five years old when our mother died and I felt very sad because I love her very much. There’s one thing I wish, I just wish she was here. I just wish she was here. This is my life with pain. This is my life in a song that has my name,” sings a 10-year old girl who lost her twin brother, father and mother. Since her tremendous loss, she has been participating in music therapy and wrote and performed this song in front of her class.
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stablished in 2003, the Music Therapy Community Clinic (MTCC) provides music therapy for poor communities on the Cape Flats in Cape Town. Places such as Athlone, Brooklyn, Heideveld, Nyanga and Khayelitsha, for the first time, can now have access to such specialised therapeutic services. MTCC targets children who are at risk and who have been victims of abuse. They also work with children and adults who have life-threatening diseases and who are socially isolated. Their services extend to teachers and other employees at two small hospitals, a local trauma centre, several schools and two NGOs that serve people with HIV/AIDS. Sunelle Fouche, Executive Director and Founder of MTCC, says: “at the Music Therapy Community Clinic our music therapists believe that every person, no matter how traumatised, ill, disabled or damaged, still have a
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healthy core, which music has the power to tap into, into their inner resources and strengths.” Under this credo, MTCC runs three main programmes. Their Trauma Project works with referrals from parents and teachers, and even self-referrals from traumatised children. It is run from a school in Heideveld but draws youth from 10 surrounding primary and high schools. These young people often have no outlet to express their emotions in a constructive manner. The Trauma Project offers individual counselling and group music therapy and has 163 children in the programme, more than half of which are at serious risk. They try keep the group mixed to avoid stigmatisation. The Siyaphila Project targets HIVpositive children and adults and it operates from the Etafeni Day Care Centre in Nyanga. The project promotes social interaction, improves self-
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confidence, and provides a safe and fun space for children and adults alike. Currently, 95 participants are involved, more than half of whom are HIV-affected, and a third of which are orphaned. The Music for Health Project helps patients who are hospitalised for long periods of time, especially as a result of TB. Working with in-patient children and adults, this component of MTCC helps them overcome the effects of separation from their families and institutional care. It currently has 181 beneficiaries that are mostly children affected by TB from the Sarah Fox Convalescent Hospital in Athlone and the Brooklyn Chest TB Hospital in Brooklyn. There also is the Music for Life Programme that keeps children off the streets and away from gangs in Heideveld. Its objective is to create a positive group experience to enhance children’s self-esteem and sense of self-worth. With a children’s
choir, composed of students from all seven primary schools in the area, and drumming and marimba groups, the focus is on using music to teach youth social skills. Andile Mabutho is part of the Music for Life programme and recalls how he first got involved: “the first time when I heard that we were going to a music therapy session it was quite scary. We thought we were going to a hospital. But when we came it was nice and then they showed us how to play drums. What I liked about it is that sometimes we may think bad things, but when it comes to music, you just keep them on the side and you go on with the music.” MTCC is sharing the art of music therapy with other organisations and has partnered with the Yabonga Children’s Project, for example, to train employees who work with HIV-affected
youth to use music therapy skills in their programmes. MTCC is also involved with training local musicians and music groups to assist certified music therapists. 22 people have been trained and the project has created a training manual for this purpose. Last year alone, 764 children benefited from these initiatives. Besides offering poor communities music therapy, MTCC is pioneering an emerging field in South Africa. There are only 33 registered music therapists in the country, six of which work for the organisation. Aspiring music therapists must complete a two-year Masters degree, that is offered only at the University of Pretoria, after completion of a Bachelors’ degree in Music. MTCC works closely with the university and receives music therapy students who offer their services as interns. Award sponsored by:
Lorraine Shelly (Funds Developer) PO Box 2069, Clareinch, 7740 Tel: +27 21 671 5196 • Fax: +27 21 671 5196 • Email: info@music-therapy.org.za
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The Dreamfields Project
SOCIALDEVELOPMENT & SOCIAL WELFARE
‘D
“When I play soccer, I feel joy inside,” says Lebogang, a Matric student from Tshisahulu village in Venda. Lebogang is part of a soccer team at his school, thanks to the Dreamfields Project, launched in 2007. Dreamfields is a national organisation that provides schools with soccer equipment, organises matches and assists with initiating school leagues. In addition, they create soccer fields in poor communities. The project hopes to revive school soccer as a league sport and achieve social change by using football as a catalyst for the development of young people in South Africa. To this end, it has three distinct operations called ‘DreamBags’, ‘DreamEvents’, and ‘DreamFields’.
reamBags’ are large kit bags provided free-ofcharge to schools. They contain three soccer balls, 15 pairs of boots, and 15 sets of kit with numbered shirts, shorts and socks. Sizes are provided according to requests from teachers and every school chooses the colour of their kit. ‘DreamBags’ each cost R6 000 and to date 1 376 have been distributed around South Africa in all nine provinces, mostly to rural areas, where the project focuses its efforts. Eight year-old Jade from Johannesburg didn’t ask for gifts on
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her birthday, instead she asked for money to buy a ‘DreamBag’ for a poor school. “All I wanted,” she said, “was for everyone to be happy and enjoy soccer.” Her ‘DreamBag’ went to a team of boys from Ivory Park, an informal settlement north of Johannesburg. The boys arrived at Jade’s school, Kyalami Prep, to receive the bag and play a game. The boys’ teacher, Isaac Nyakale said: “this ‘DreamBag’ will go a long way in encouraging our boys to work even harder.” Schools like Ivory Park and teachers like Isaac Nyakale, after receiving their kit-bags, will participate in
‘DreamEvents’. These are all-day tournaments, held amongst school soccer leagues that compete in league-format style matches. 111 of such events have been organised thus far with 10 to 15 schools, and 150 to 225 children participating. ‘DreamEvents’ are collaborative efforts that include the Department of Education, school leagues and local small businesses who benefit from these “mega-events”. This is also an opportunity for ‘Dreambag’ sponsors to meet their schools and celebrate the game of football. What would the game of football
be without a field? The iconic images of children playing on dilapidated fields without goal posts are endemic to African football. In response to this, the project has created ‘DreamFields’ in areas such as Hluvukani, Elloitdale, Soul City Kagiso, and Tshisahulu. Most of the 12 fields established are sand-polymer compound fields. This type of field is favoured because they are cost-effective to build, and little amount of work is needed to maintain it, as opposed to grass fields. However, if a community has the capacity for a grass field, and sufficient sponsorship is secured, one is created – as was the case in Driekoppies, Mpumalanga. Dreamfields plans to invest at least
50% of their expenditure in areas outside of South Africa’s major cities. Their goal is to bring the World Cup spirit to everyone, not just urban host communities. Dreamfields are well ahead of their target – 85% of the R14 million invested in their two and a half years of operation has gone to non-metro areas in South Africa. With infrastructure, equipment, and established leagues, the project is creating a tradition of organised sport in poor communities across the country. Match events use local businesses such as caterers, events organisers, construction workers and taxis. As a result, funds are invested into local areas that ensure the
community participates and benefits from these events. It is the school children though, who are really seeing the benefits. Like Mohau Mosea, from Phuthaditjhaba in the Free State, who says he “would like to become a successful soccer player and then use that to give something back to my community.” Nthabiseng Manko, from the same province, played in front of 20 000 fans at Botshabelo Stadium on the Khotatso Primary School team. Nthabiseng says she might like to play for the Kaizer Chiefs eventually, but she really wants to help people, saying: “I want to be a doctor when I grow up so I can help those who are sick.” Award sponsored by:
John Perlman (Chief Executive Officer) Postnet Suite 180, Private Bag X2600, Houghton, 2041 Tel: +27 11 833 1050 • Fax: +27 11 833 1051 • Email: johnperlman@dreamfieldsproject.org
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EDUCATION 44 Hantam Community Education Trust
46 Small Projects Foundation: Protecting Futures Programme
48 Project Literacy: Run Home to Read
50 Christel House South Africa
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Hantam Community Education Trust Thembakazi Matyeka used to go to school in Colesberg, Northern Cape, but she dropped out when she became a single mother and became a farm worker. Finding a job was hard, and the only option open to her was cleaning a farmhouse. Today she is a certified Grade R teacher, conducting her class in two languages at Umthombo Wolwazi Farm School, started by the Hantam Community Education Trust (Hantam).
EDUCATION
“W
e have turned an entire community around,” says Lesley Olser, one of three farmer’s wives – Clare Barnes-Webb and Anja Pienaar – who established Hantam in 1989. The multi-purpose health and education centre is located on nine acres of deproclaimed farmland that was donated by a local farmer and is situated 44kms from Colesberg. It is a community hub which helps children and families break the cycle of poverty, and empowers teachers in the district through a multi-dimensional education and health care programme. Hantam began as a nursery school with 11 children in a stable. One of those first pre-schoolers is now a 5th year medical student. Another was the South African Champion Junior Welder in 2005. Another established the library at Hantam, which now helps pupils take out over 500 books per week. Hantam has also partnered with numerous construction companies,
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farmers, electricians, and hospitality venues to give students work experience during their classroom training. They include the London Chamber of Commerce, Steyn’s Culinary School in Pretoria, Bergzicht Training Centre in Stellenbosch, and Unique Training Solutions in Bloemfontein to place internships. All the programmes meet National Qualification Framework standards. As Olser says: “I think the essence of our project is hope. Because if there is hope, people will take responsibility for their lives.” By giving poor people hope and the tools to be productive, Hantam is empowering the community to end poverty. Former student, Nokuthula Patience Martins, who is studying pharmacology says: “You have to choose what you want to do in the future, and then they give you the opportunity to do that” and Hantam is providing that opportunity to an extraordinary amount of people. Olser notes that community
ownership of this project accounts for its success: “it is run by a community of young black women, white women, black men, white men – a microcosm of what the rainbow nation is about, because we have to work together.” And work together this small farming community does. Not only have farm workers benefited but farmers are actively involved with Hantam and have seen the impact it is having on farmer and employee relationships. As a result, there is a low staff turnover on farms because workers want to stay in the community as Hantam’s services makes them feel secure and provides their families with support and their children with education. The respect and admiration the community holds for its project is evident in the fact that Hantam has never experienced theft or vandalism since its inception. Olser has faith in this simple, yet effective model. She humbly says, “if three farmer’s wives can do it, anyone could do it. If we can do it there in the middle of nowhere, it can be done anywhere!”
Hantam expanded quickly from its stable-classroom to a sophisticated school complex that provides: • A cutting-edge Early Childhood Development (ECD) Programme; • Schooling from Grade R to Grade 9; • A 10 000 book library; • 10 classrooms and a computer centre; • A Teacher Training Project, that enables teachers to complete their ECD Level 5 certification; • An Effective Parenting Programme for mothers and fathers with children up to the age of five; • Transportation to and from school for all the children within a 50km radius; • An Outreach Teacher Development Programme, providing training to all Grade R and Foundation-Phase teachers from two schools in Noupoort and Colesberg; • A Youth Empowerment Programme that provides job-skills training in building, construction, artisanal skills, hospitality services, and driving license courses for teenagers; • Adult Basic Education and Training in English; • Bursaries for students to continue with secondary and tertiary education; • The only health facility within 150kms that provides primary and oral health care; HIV and AIDS-testing, treatment, education and support; • A fully-stocked pharmacy run by local community members; • Vegetable garden initiation and education on good nutrition and health. Hantam has reached: • 58 children in two ECD classrooms with two teachers and three interns; • 179 pupils in the main school with 11 teachers; • 30 teachers who are supported through the Teacher Training Project, that reach approximately 800 children; • 11 Grade R teachers who have completed their level 5 training; • 23 educators who are trained through the Teacher Outreach Development Programme; • 44 bursary graduate students; 36 of whom have found employment and 27 more are currently at secondary and tertiary institutions; • Families on 28 farms that receive health care and education; • An average of 60 patients who are treated weekly at the clinic; • 46 mothers and 58 children in the Effecting Parenting Programme. Award sponsored by:
Lesley Osler (Project Co-ordinator) PO Box 151, Colesberg, 9795 Tel: +27 51 753 1419 • Fax: +27 51 753 1419 • Email: les.hantam@mweb.co.za
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Protecting Futures Programme
EDUCATION
A
Studies have found that the dropout rate in South African schools peak among students in Grade 7 (12 years old) and Grade 9 (14 years old), with young girls dropping out at a higher rate than boys of the same age. This age group for young girls is during puberty, when girls start menstruating for the first time. Compounded by the plight of rural schools and the environmental pressures families face, young rural girls often leave school at the onset of menstruation.
lack understanding of what is happening to their bodies, made worse by their diffidence to express their insecurities to parents and teachers, the only option for them is to leave school. Poor toilet facilities, a lack of sanitary towels and the failure of teachers to educate them about reproductive sexual health, exacerbate the situation for young women. Caregivers, likewise, are ill-informed and perpetuate myths that stigmatise menstruation. Many girls hesitate to talk about their first period for fear of being labelled sexually-active, which has in some cases led to girls becoming victims of violence. According to the Small Projects
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Foundation (SPF), absenteeism during menstruation was common among girls in rural Eastern Cape. SPF, in partnership with Save the Children, the Department of Health and the Department of Education created the Protecting Futures Programme in August 2008 to help young women and their parents deal with the challenge of de-stigmatising menstruation and puberty. Working in three district municipalities in the Eastern Cape – OR Tambo, Chris Hani and Ukhahlamba, Protecting Futures has worked with more than 3 000 young girls between the ages of 12 and 14 in 112 schools. They found that although girls were receiving lessons on HIV/AIDS and
condom-usage, this often proved futile as they had no sound grounding in knowledge of their own reproductive health. What was integral to this process was empowering the 224 teachers from these schools to educate young girls about issues of puberty, sexuality, and reproductive health. Proctor and Gamble supplied sanitary towels which were previously not available at schools. They designed, manufactured, and installed paddisposal units at schools (39 in OR Tambo, 51 in Chris Hani, and 43 in Ukhahlamba). In addition, toilet facilities were upgraded and at the very least school governing bodies were assisted to develop systems to
improve and maintain their ablution facilities. Similarly, girls were taught to keep toilets clean and dispose of their used sanitary towels correctly. Parents were also mobilised and instituted a toilet cleaning schedule at each school, with every caregiver coming in and cleaning the toilets three days a week. The programme held workshops with young girls and their caregivers to help them communicate more effectively with one another as they were often emotionally estranged. The training also included how to start your own small vegetable garden. Talking
through the issues between young girls and their caregivers has also opened up the doors for larger conversations. Paul Cromhout, Director of SPF says: “we were able to mobilise caregivers to start talking to each other about what it was that was happening to their girls, what the girls’ future needed to be, and how in fact they could go forward. We gave young girls the power back over their own bodies.” Protecting Futures is not just having an intangible impact on young girls. Incidents of absenteeism in schools have dropped from 20% to 5%. This dramatic 15-point decrease means
that more girls are regularly staying in school. Some schools are even reporting a significant decrease in the number of teen pregnancies at their schools after the project has been implemented. A training manual for the Department of Education has been developed so that the project can be spread to reach girls across the province and even the country. Protecting Futures is a simple, low-cost intervention that costs R152 per pupil. It has the potential to empower young girls, their families, improve schools and their governing structures. Award sponsored by:
Tinus Jacobsz (Project Manager) PO Box 11208, East London, 5213 Tel: +27 43 743 9592 • Fax: +27 43 743 4721 • Email: spfinfo@intekom.co.za
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WESTEINDE – THE NETHERLANDS
Run Home to Read
EDUCATION
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There are more than four million adults who are illiterate in South Africa. Approximately, another four million adults are functionally illiterate, having left school before Grade 7. Not only do these high numbers mean a significant portion of the population is unable to complete basic tasks such as banking, filling in forms, reading instructions and voting, but they also care for a generation of children without being able to read to them. Early Childhood Development (ECD) is enormously helpful but futile if a family, specifically caregivers, are not involved in the process.
roject Literacy, established in 1973, with 30 years of experience in Adult Basic Education, launched their Run Home to Read programme in 2006 in Limpopo. It is a family literacy project, designed to bring ECD into homes for those children who do not have access to formal centres. It involves caregivers in developing a child’s early literacy skills. The programme works with a team of field workers, who supervise and train local ‘Reading Champions’. Their job is to support households to develop
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a culture of learning. There are 20 Reading Champions, each working in five areas in Limpopo, including Giyani, Thohoyandou, Levubu, Tzaneen, and Haenertsburg. Previous Project Literacy Director, Robyn Pillay, says: “reading needs to happen in the home. It is not something that must only happen in school and in isolation. If you’re going to create an environment where children can learn more and develop that quest for knowledge and understanding, it needs to be a habit that’s formed and supported in the home.” Winnie
Kganyago, who works with Run Home to Read elaborates: “at first it was a very difficult thing because the children didn’t know anything about reading. But because they’re doing it with their caregivers on a daily basis it is helping them. They’re enjoying every moment!” Each household is equipped with a starter pack which is composed of a Run Home to Read t-shirt, a bag with a box of crayons, six story books in local African languages, two activity books and a caregiver’s manual. The Reading Champions work with 10 families per week, visiting each family twice a
week for three months. After the initial intervention, the Reading Champion does quarterly follow-up workshops with the caregivers. Caregivers are then able to use the starter pack to read and stimulate development in their children. Having reached 3 150 families in Limpopo and Soshanguve, Run Home to Read is having an important impact on children and families for three distinct reasons. Firstly, it is a mother-tongue literacy programme, enabling children to learn how to read in the language they
are most familiar with. They produce storybooks in five African languages that include Tshivenda, Sepedi, isiZulu, Siswati and Tsonga. Secondly, the programme is relatively inexpensive, so it can easily be implemented in other areas. Each Run Home to Read starter pack costs only R300 and operational costs are minimal. Thirdly, the programme educates caregivers how to use libraries and links families with their local libraries. Instead of coming in and maintaining an intensive reading programme for
families, Run Home to Read is creating an extensive support system of libraries for families to use and continue to develop their skills. The project already has partnerships with five libraries in Thohoyandou, Giyani, Tzaneen, Haenertsburg and Soshanguve and was instrumental in establishing a community library in Mahlomelong. Families that are part of the programme are given free library memberships and the project has already donated 7 000 African language story books to these libraries. Award sponsored by:
Sharon Reynolds (Project Manager) PO Box 57280, Pretoria, 0007 Tel: +27 12 323 3447 • Fax: +27 12 321 0955 • Email: sharon@projectliteracy.org.za
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Christel House South Africa After Lerecia Bailey’s father passed away 12 years ago, the Bailey family was forced out of their home. The mother, Berenice Bailey, passed away in 2008 after suffering kidney failure. Lerecia was then left alone to care for her two siblings with her brother. She is now on her way to study Business Administration at the Tertiary School in Business Administration (TSIBA), in Cape Town, with a full-tuition scholarship.
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erecia and many like her are nurtured at Christel House South Africa in Ottery, Cape Town. Christel House SA illustrates that poverty need not determine a child’s future and that with first-rate education, the cycle of poverty can be broken. It is based on an international school model that is mainly funded by Christel House Inc Founder and President, Christel DeHaan. She has started similar schools in four other countries namely: India, Venezuela, the United States of America and Mexico. Christel House SA opened its doors in January 2002 with 300 pupils in Grades 1 through 5, growing a grade with every year. Now 688 children are enrolled per year in grade R through to Matric. Children come from townships
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in Cape Town including Langa, Joe Slovo, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Bokmakierie, Kew Town, Vygiekraal, Pooke-se-Bos and Delft. To be eligible to attend Christel House SA, a family’s income cannot exceed R2 500 per month when supporting eight or more dependents. Each year Christel House SA receives nearly 1 500 applicants, but admits only 60 at the Grade 1 level. According to Ronald Fortune, the school’s principal: “these children come from impoverished backgrounds and we chose them specifically because they are severely impoverished; we take them to a height and unlock their potential so they can become the best they can possibly be.” Every child accepted into the school receives a full scholarship for his or her entire 12-year education. This scholarship
EDUCATION
includes a range of support services for the child and also their parents. One of the requirements of the scholarship is that parents must be actively involved at the school throughout the duration of their child’s education. It is important to the entire schooling process that the family commits and supports their child in finishing their schooling. Each parent volunteers to work at the school for five days a year and must attend 10 workshops annually that focus on issues such as basic literacy, self care and health. A new skills training workshop has started with a smaller group of 20 parents. Christel House SA’s pupils attend school from 08h00 to 17h00 – a long day that includes a range of extracurricular activities including sporting codes, performing arts, sewing and
gardening. They are “bussed in” every morning and taken home at the end of the day. A student at Christel House SA, Martha Letswalo, commented: “we get the most awesome opportunities at this school. And also because we come out late, most people are like ‘why do you come out late? It’s not nice.’ But for us it’s very nice because it’s like a family and the sports that we get are great and we have lots of opportunities. It’s wonderful.” Every student is required to give back to the community in some way, so they participate in multiple service learning programmes, including litter clean-ups, working in soup kitchens and reading to the elderly. The school also has Saturday classes and requires a minimum of 200 school-days a year. Each child receives two meals a day, annual dental and medical checkups, vision and hearing screening, immunizations in accordance with WHO recommendations, counselling
and group therapy with a social worker employed by the school. They have a 98% attendance rate, due to incentives given to children to attend regularly and build a good attendance record. Christel House SA sports a stellar academic record, with a 97% pass rate. Their student grades, on national standardised exams, are comparable to private schools in affluent areas. It received a perfect score and highest possible accreditation from Umalusi in 2006, a council that sets and monitors standards for general and further education and training in South Africa. Most children that enter the school do not speak English, but with six language facilitators that are employed from Grade R, children easily adjust to the English-medium learning. They have created a reading culture with mandatory ‘Reading Time’ where students from Grade 3 upwards form reading groups and borrow books from the school’s library. As a result, the
school boasts a 100% English pass rate. Their success is due in no small measure to the dedicated 60 staff members who go beyond their call of duty. For example, when studying for matriculation exams, students often do not have an adequate study space. Their homes are usually cramped, with minimal electricity and other distractions. As a result, every staff member takes a matriculant into their homes for the two weeks preceding the exams to study in a safe atmosphere. The school is committed to finding higher education bursaries for graduating pupils and maintains their relationship with students until they are self-sufficient. Sharon Williams, Director of Development and Marketing, elaborates: “if our beneficiary’s children come to Christel House, then the model fails.” The ideal is that the school’s alumni will break the cycle of poverty and not need to send their children to Christel House.
Award sponsored by:
Sharon Williams (Fundraising & Marketing Manager) PO Box 767, Howard Place, 7450 Tel: +27 21 704 9406 • Fax: +27 21 704 9401 • Email: swilliams@sa.christelhouse.org
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HIV/AIDS & HEALTH 53 Ugu District PMTCT Health Programme
54 Institute for Health Care Improvement: Closing the Gaps in Care
56 Project Masiluleke 58 St John’s Ambulance Grahamstown: Eye and Home Care Projects
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HIV/AIDS&HEALTH
Ugu District PMTCT Health Programme
The Ugu District is located south of Durban in rural-coastal KwaZulu-Natal. The main town is Port Shepstone and it has one regional hospital – Port Shepstone Hospital – three district hospitals, 51 clinics and 15 mobile clinics. It has the third highest HIVprevalence rate in the country and by 2005, 21% of babies were HIVpositive. Despite the availability of Nevirapine and AZT, mothers were still transmitting HIV to their babies. 80% of admissions to children’s wards were from HIV-related infections.
H
owever, in 2008, HIV-related infectious admissions decreased by 6.8%, made possible by the implementation of a model designed by the Institute for Health Care Improvement’s (IHI) Closing the Gaps in Care Project. The Ugu District Health Team adopted this model in order to find ways to reduce the HIV-infection rate. The idea was for health care practitioners to work with other local partners in multidistrict teams to find ways of doing this. Additionally, they sought to reduce HIVinfections in newborns, and empower health care workers. In partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Medical School, mothers2mothers and the provincial Department of Health, Ugu Distrct implemented their Preventionof-Mother-to-Child-Transmission
Programme (PMTCT) in 2008. The district improved their effectiveness by assessing community needs, training health care workers in IHI’s “Quality Improvement Methodology” and reassessing data management systems. By scaling up nurses’ training and addressing the gaps in health care, the entire system was able to work more successfully. Nompumelelo Shibe, Senior PMTCT Technical Adviser, attests to the success of their intervention: “the result was a significant boost in the performance of practitioners by scaling up the skills of current staff and operations”. In 2007, the Ugu District had a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) take-up rate of 32%; and by 2009 the success rate was up 95%. Shibe explains that even the approach of nurses and doctors in talking to patients can make a big
difference in improving their adherence to treatment, and decrease the appointment default rate. She points out, the model is not just applicable to HIV/AIDS patients; it can be applied to many sectors seeking to enhance their productivity and efficacy rates. Scrutinising data closely, reducing points of waste, and devising efficiency schemes can be spread to any clinic for any chronic disease. Impumelelo evaluator Maria Stacey commented: “a significant benefit is that staff are starting to feel that they can save lives and they are saving lives. One primary health care supervisor reported that, at one of her clinics, in the last month, 43 babies had received PCRtesting and that only three were positive (7% of those exposed to HIV in utero). She was very proud and the team applauded and congratulated her”. Award sponsored by:
Nompumelelo Shibe (PMTCT Programme Manager) 41 Bisset Street, Mandela Drive, Port Shepstone, 4240 Tel: +27 39 688 3000 • Fax: +27 39 682 6296 • Email: mpume.shibe@kznhealth.gov.za
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Closing the Gaps in Care
HIV/AIDS&HEALTH
T
The South African health system is overburdened with 17% of the globe’s HIV-positive population. Administering one of the largest Anti Retroviral (ARV) programmes in the world is severely compromised by the lack of qualified nurses and doctors. When asked what would improve the situation, heal th care workers overwhelmingly request more staff, more money and more space. With none of these available, the Institute for Health Care Improvement (IHI), in March 2005, targeted the eastern sub-district in the Western Cape – the worst-performing health district in the province – to pilot a simple, cost-effective solution to improve health care services.
he Closing the Gaps in Care HIV/AIDS programme trains and mentors health care workers to think scientifically and systemically about how to improve delivery. They are trained to work with a “Continuous Quality Improvement Methodology” developed by IHI. “Working smarter, not harder” is the driving force behind this methodology and Closing the Gaps went about teaching practitioners how to do just that. The Helderberg Hospital, in Somerset West, was the pilot site and needed assistance to improve their ARV delivery. The first prototype phase from April 2005 to September 2007 targeted Helderberg’s ARV and referring clinics in half of the
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eastern sub-district. The second phase extended the intervention to all 17 health facilities in the other half of the district and the entire Mitchell’s Plain sub-district. It included six-monthly learning sessions with sub-district health facilities, creating a “learning network”. At these sessions clinical staff were taught a number of skills that included how to analyze HIVtreatment indicators, identify gaps in the spectrum of care and evaluate ideas and proposed solutions. Extensive systems of monitoring and evaluation that tracked the progress of HIV-treatment indicators were established. These statistics were consistently fed back to this network and
senior managers were kept informed through monthly project reports. During the initial phase, the ARV staff of Helderberg provided strategic and logistical support for some of the ideas that arose. For example, staff had decided they wanted to develop a radio drama series to educate the public about HIV and encourage listeners to test and seek treatment if they are ill. The dramas were discussed, scripted, recorded and broadcast on two community radio stations. While Helderberg established an ARV clinic in 2004, there were still no effective interventions for children or Prevention-of-Mother-to-ChildTransmission (PTMCT) provisions.
With the help of the IHI methodology and other organisations such as Absolute Return for Kids (ARK), the hospital expanded the clinic in 2008 to provide a number of services that included Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Treatment (HAART). They also strengthened the HIV-referral network to prevent fewer patients from getting lost in the system. Staff were equipped to connect patients to HIV-services closer to their communities and reduce Motherto-Child-Transmission rates. They also managed to decrease the demand for acute medical services by providing treatment sooner in the HIV/AIDS continuum of care. Using a methodology of “plan, do, study, act,” and asking the question, “how are our systems impacting on our care”, Closing the Gaps helps health care workers on the frontlines develop their own ideas to improve what they do. Dr Michele Youngleson, from IHI says: “when you have a gap, you have a methodology to respond”, and the success at Helderberg proved that the methodology is flexible and can be effective no matter what the problem. The model is working so well that in the two sub-districts where it was implemented, the number of patients accessing care doubled, even trebled in some clinics. She continues: “the district manager was saying, everybody used to be competing for limited resources, now they’re all sharing ideas, they have pulled together and everybody is doing it. It just pulled the whole sub-district together.” Dr David Daramola from Cape Town Metro District Health Services discovered: “there was a lot of unnecessary obstacles when we started working with this project. I can tell you now that we’ve improved on basically every area of service to the patients. We’ve been able to cut down the waiting period by 50%.” The Department of Health has taken up the methodology and implemented an accelerated plan for PMTCT services in 18 priority districts across South Africa. Closing the Gaps have assisted these districts to meet and in some cases exceed the standards set in the National Strategic Plan. The transmission of HIV to babies has decreased to 5% through PMTCT programmes Closing the Gaps supported. The average number of patients receiving HAART in the districts where the methodology has been implemented has increased to over 70 per month, above the National Strategic Plan target of 65. Award sponsored by:
Dr Michele Youngleson 11 High Constantia, 2 Groot Constantia Rd, 7806 Tel: +27 21 794 5827 • Email: m.youngleson@mweb.co.za
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Project Masiluleke
HIV/AIDS&HEALTH
Project Masiluleke started in 2008 as an initiative of the Praekelt Foundation, which assists public-service organisations develop low-cost mobile solutions. With nearly 100% of South Africans using mobile phones, its potential for social innovation, particularly in the management of HIV/AIDS, remains enormous. In South Africa, 30 million “Please Call Me” (PCM) texts are sent every day. Texts allow for up to 120 characters, so in these short messages, there is a lot of unused space, considered by the industry as “commercial real estate”. Project Masiluleke tapped into this market and created one of the country’s largest mobile HIV-awareness campaigns with the help of Pop Tech and other collaborators. MTN, one of South Africa’s largest cellphone companies, agreed to donate the extra character space in 5% of the 20 million PCM messages that were sent through their network every day.
“Frequently sick, tired, losing weight and scared that you might be HIV-positive? Please call AIDS Helpline 0800012322.” “HIV-positive & being mistreated by your family or friends? For confidential counselling call AIDS Helpline on 0800012322.”
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his service is called ‘SocialTxt’, which sends messages on a variety of HIV-related topics to South Africans on a mass scale, using MTN’s PCM service. The message content is developed by iTEACH (Integration of TB in Education and Care for HIV/AIDS). It is a South African organisation aimed at improving the delivery of HIV and TB care and treatment in the public health sector. Text messages are concluded with the National AIDS Helpline number for people to call with any further queries.
Since October 2008, 221 557 682 HIVspecific PCMs were tagged by Project Masiluleke, resulting in a tripling of the daily call volume to the National AIDS Helpline. On the first day they were sent, these messages led to a 300% increase in the number of calls to the helpline. Clinics have worked on ways to jazz up the messages for young people and some now receive texts from celebrities like Alicia Keys and John Legend. MTN tested whether SocialTxt was having an impact and stopped sending them for
an extended period. Calls from the MTN network to the AIDS helpline dropped to 1 000 per day and when they resumed sending, calls to the helpline jumped back up to 3 000 calls per day. Project Masiluleke, acknowledges that their SocialTxt intervention does not always translate into people seeking treatment or getting tested for HIV. It was a start, but they wanted to go further. As a result, they initiated focus groups in rural, semi-rural, and urban communities to investigate the best ways of getting more people to test themselves for HIV. Because of stigma, people were reluctant to come to a health facility and get tested for HIV. They also found that 85% of men would not test in a clinic, and 78% of men would prefer to test at home with more privacy. With their findings, Project Masiluleke created a user-friendly ‘selftest’ kit that enables people to test themselves in private. People can opt to take the test in private, or they can take it with a counsellor at a clinic. The kit comes with instructions on how to take the test, and information about resources available should you test HIV-positive. ‘TextAlert’ is the third component of Project Masiluleke, and is an open-source mobile technology system that alerts people with a SMS to increase appointment-attendance and treatment-adherence for patients on Anti-Retrovirals (ARVs). TextAlert has been successfully piloted at the Themba Lethu Clinic in Johannesburg. Over the past two years, 12 000 patients on ARVs have opted for this free service and as a result appointment-attendance has risen from 87% to 96%. With this service patients can also get in touch with the clinic, reschedule appointments and report any issues that are hampering their attendance through the PCM facility. It costs approximately 75 cents per patient per month to send automated appointment reminders to those who are on one-month treatment cycles. As this is an open-source technology there are no licensing fees, minimal set-up and monthly maintenance costs. However, health clinics must have an electronic medical record system in order for the technology to work. This technology can easily assist clinics with issues of any chronic disease management. Award sponsored by:
Gustav Praekelt (Managing Director) Postnet Suite 230, Private Bag X11, Craighall, 2024 Tel: +27 11 482 8684 • Fax: +27 11 482 9042 • Email: gustav@praekeltfoundation.org
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St John’s Ambulance Grahamstown Eye and Home Care Projects
HIV/AIDS&HEALTH
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“Why does it only have to be for people who can afford it?” asks Ingrid Marais who works with the Community Eye Clinic of Grahamstown. The clinic is a project of St John’s Ambulance, started in 2003, and although it is based in Grahamstown, it serves a large region between Port Elizabeth and East London. The clinic’s reach stretches from Alexandria to the Fish River, along the coast and inland to Cradock, that includes Bathurst, Peddie, Bedford and Fort Beaufort. St John’s Grahamstown provides free eye care and spectacles to the poor and in addition to their optometry services, they also provide free training for community health workers.
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he Grahamstown Community Eye Clinic is part of a network of 14 eye care clinics operating around South Africa that provides the poor with professional eye testing and spectacles. Last year, St John’s Eye Clinics treated over 23 000 patients and dispensed 15 819 spectacles. The Grahamstown project started out as a service that provided spectacles only, and in the past seven years, has grown into a comprehensive referral ophthalmic service. It connects rural communities, private optometrists, local and provincial health services. Their eye clinic is run every Tuesday with the help of four local optometrists and specialists from Port Elizabeth and East London, who offer their services free for five hours a week. Through testing people’s eyes, the clinic detects a range of other diseases like cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinal complications. As a result, thousands of patients are referred to local hospitals. St John’s Grahamstown organises ambulance services from local hospitals to transport people from neighbouring towns to the clinic and other health facilities for further treatment. In Grahamstown, in 2009,
over 2 000 people attended the clinic and 301 received spectacles. Eunice De Klerk works for the Eye Clinic and remembers the profound impact the clinic had on one man: “the first time that we had people come in for operations there was this old man, about 90 years old. For 30 years he couldn’t see his own daughter, after going blind. Then after the operations, this man was happy, like a child, with a birthday present because now he can see his daughter after 30 years.” Staying true to the tradition of its mother body, St John’s Grahamstown offers free First Aid training to interested unemployed persons. However, in response to the needs of the community, they expanded the training to include aspects of home care, counselling and HIV/AIDS. Vredeline Stevens, a young woman from Grahamstown, is one of the 2 000 people that have been trained since 2003 and she commented about what the training meant to her: “I feel like I am helping my community, even if we don’t get paid to do so. It’s not about the money; it’s about helping other people.” St John’s training has become much
sought-after in Grahamstown, assisting in strengthening local NGO capacity. Because of this demand, their training has become an income-generator for the organisation. Local businesses and other organisations pay to improve the skills of their employees. Their training is even mandatory for people wanting to apply for certain jobs in local health facilities. A survey found that with the first 250 people trained, at least twothirds have found employment. Trudy Thomas, an Impumelelo evaluator, after visiting the project says: “In a nutshell, with regular, reliable professional eye-testing service at St John’s Grahamstown’s eye clinic every week, an ophthalmic service has been restored. This is a service which has fallen away at the local hospital due to the collapse of clinic services and referrals in the area. Doctors and nurses, once again enabled to serve people effectively, have enthusiastically – ’bought in’, in a province whose degraded health services have become a cause for despair. St John’s compassionate, community-orientated eye-care initiative has revived the spirit and practice of service.” Award sponsored by:
Mario Viljoen (Manager) 24 Hill Street, Grahamstown, 6139 Tel: +27 46 636 1650 • Fax: +27 46 622 5670 • Email: centre@ghms.stjohnambulance.co.za
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SKILLS DEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYMENT 62 Thembani Handcraft Project
64 City of Cape Town: Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading
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SKILLSDEVELOPMENT & EMPLOYMENT
Thembani Handcraft Project The small town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape is 200km north-east of Port Elizabeth, with a high rate of unemployment amongst its 2 206 households. The town contains no major industries, with most trying to earn a living through informal trade. When Dr Lana Blom moved to Bedford she was struck by the need for stable employment amongst the poor in the community. With her help, the Thembani Handcraft Project came up with a novel idea to address job creation in rural areas. The project is currently showing government how to provide incentives for bigger companies to create and sustain commercially viable industry in places such as Bedford.
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hembani came about in response to the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development and Urban Renewal Programmes’ aim to create employment in rural areas. With their funding for a research project, Blom explored ways to develop income-generating activities in Bedford, particularly to improve the skills level of impoverished women. For this purpose, a small group of unemployed women were trained as
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field researchers. These women now work as administrators for Thembani which has undertaken a range of smallscale agricultural, environmental and craft-development enterprises. The core operations of Thembani revolve around an arrangement with a local company, Sindawonye Granulators, which has a recycling contract with Telkom. Sindawonye delivers 20 tons of disused Telkom cabling at Thembani every month
to be manually stripped, sorted and sold. Much of the plastic sleeving is sold back to Sindawonye, and most of Thembani’s approximately R40 000 monthly income is derived from this. The Kelvar (yellow fibre surrounding the optic cable) is sold in bales to Gelvenor Textiles in Pietermaritzburg, where it is used in the production of bullet-proof vests for export. According to a report by the South African Netherlands Research Programme in Alternative
Development, Thembani is the first in the world to recycle optic cable manually and successfully. Due to the monotonous nature of this cable stripping exercise, other activities were also explored with additional training with various partnerships. Sindawonye provided health and safety training for operating machinery which included training sessions with St John’s Ambulance in First Aid. The Department of Labour conducted training in administration and management, sewing and related skills, candle-wicking, and furniture restoration. Soil for Life provided gardening and compost-making training, essential for the nursery that is run at the project. Various crafts are also created with donated unused wooded blocks that are painted with non-toxic foodcolouring as toys for children. Sawdust donated from a local furniture company is turned into compost for the nursery. Thembani created a compost programme using redundant material and initiated gardens all over the community. Now there is an annual ‘Thembani Best Township Garden’ competition, where gardeners vie for the coveted title every year. Workers developed a garden nursery that grows a range of plants, flowers and vegetable seedling. The optic cables are used to make fencing or hanging chairs and swings out of plastic droppers. Thread from the cables are used in candle wicking duvets and the excess plastic goes back to Sindawonye. Products are displayed and sold in a shop showroom at Thembani. Thembani has also started processing scrap metals for recycling and mobilised the community to become part of the intiative. School children and other community members collect cans and are compensated for them. Christo Waters is one of the 20 people that has found employment through Thembani and says, “the project is good for the community of Bedford because a lot of us were unemployed. When Lana Blom started this project, she helped a lot of families by providing us with jobs.” The success of the project also allowed the organisation to establish the Thembani Special Day Care Centre for disabled children. Here, between 12 and 20 disabled children are looked after every day and it is managed by a local woman that was trained by the Port Elizabeth Mental Care Association. Thembani is still developing its business model eventually to become a successful community co-operative. Be that as it may, it is slowly but successfully illustrating the potential for businesses to get involved in creating long-term employment in small rural towns. Creatively recycling materials as the incentive and catalyst for business development, Thembani has sown the seeds for growing a viable job creation hub in Bedford. Award sponsored by:
Dr Lana Blom (Project Manager) PO Box 197, Bedford, 5780 Tel: +27 46 685 0994 • Fax: +27 46 685 0992 • Email: thembani@producera.co.za
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Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading Khayelitsha is one of the most dangerous areas around Cape Town, with 1 280 murders committed between April 2003 and March 2009. It has equally alarming rates of sexual violence, assault, robbery, arson and theft. But significantly, the crime rates are steadily decreasing due to a partnership between the City of Cape Town, the Khayelitsha Community Forum, and the German Development Bank. They have increased safety in different areas in the township through an urban renewal project called the Violence Prevention through Urban Upgrading Programme (VPUU).
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tarted in 2006, VPUU designed a community participation model aimed at reducing crime through the improvement of public spaces and services. The specific interventions conducted in communities were based upon a series of preparatory meetings run by six young facilitators, trained and employed to co-ordinate this process. The community helped VPUU identify crime hotspots and develop strategies to decrease crime rates in the designated areas of Site C, Harare, Kuyasa and Site B. Theo Nkohla, from Khayelitsha, reiterates: “the community
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participation is ensuring that communities are engaged and involved from the initial stages of planning. We plan with them, we identify what needs to be done and also where they think we need to have this kind of intervention.” One of VPUU’s main strategies is “Active Boxes”, which are safe spaces along major pedestrian walkways that create “Safe Node Areas.” They are easily identifiable and serve both as orientation devices along pedestrian routes and as points of refuge for a victim of crime. The community assisted in their construction, design
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and identifying areas for their location. As multi-functional meeting places within the neighbourhood, Active Boxes are homes for various activities to maximise safe day and night traffic. They are ‘owned-spaces’ and have natural surveillance, visible signage, 24-hour activities, and adequate lighting. They are designed to make residents feel secure to walk around at any hour. Since VPUU’s intervention, Nkohla has noticed that “criminal activities have now decreased”, echoing communities’ sentiments towards the programme. VPUU maintains ongoing monitoring and evaluation to assess
if these interventions are working and whether people are feeling safer. After three years of VPUU’s work in Khayelitsha, a preliminary study showed that public perception of safety rose from 2.8 to 4.3 (with 1 being totally unsafe and 10 being completely safe). Not only are people beginning to feel safer in their own neighbourhoods, but 1 417 people attended skills-level training courses; 13 crèches have been supported; 53 community projects have been funded; a gender-based violence satellite office and legal aid centre was opened; 92 people attended conflict resolution training; 236 volunteers conduct patrols; and seven capital projects have been completed including two community centres, an urban park and a sports field, while a further four are under construction.
Other interventions developed by VPUU include: • Developing schools into community learning and development centres; • Constructing sports and recreational sites, including mixed-use facilities ranging from work and live units to multi-purpose centres; • Establishing safe pedestrian walkways; • Providing free legal aid for civil matters in communities; • Creating various cultural and skills development initiatives that target crèches and include computer and music centres; • Conducting training for local NGOs on organisational and economic development. Award sponsored by:
Alastair Graham (Manager) PO Box 1964, Cape Town 8000 Tel: +27 21 400 4576 • Fax: +27 21 400 3990 • Email: alastair.graham@capetown.gov.za
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AGRICULTURE & FOODSECURITY 68 Amadlelo Projects & Middledrift Dairy Farm
70 Abalimi Bezekhaya: Harvest of Hope
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Amadlelo Projects & Middledrift Dairy Farm AGRICULTURE & FOOD SECURITY
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70 white commercial farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal got together to address the lack of black farming in this region and in 2004 established Amadlelo Agri. “We were sick of the low performance of black empowerment projects and land reform and we decided to do something about it,” says Jeff Every, CEO of Amadlelo. Their vision was to create profitable black agri-businesses from unutilized farming land.
madlelo provides capital investment and ensures sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector. They offer extensive mentoring and training of emerging farmers to develop the necessary skills and experience. Jeff Every and other farmers realized that “the transformation from white to black farming was an imperative but it had to be sustainable and it had to be economically viable going forward”, notes Every. Each farmer contributed R12 000 a month over a seven year period to
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raise capital for Amadlelo’s financial involvement in their various projects. While owning a stake in them, the majority of the shares of communal land will revert back to communities as the loan equity is paid off by profits garnered. They are currently involved in four projects in the Eastern Cape that when fully developed will directly employ more than 300 people with over 10 000 benefiting from the projects. The Fort Hare Dairy Trust is an 800-cow commercial dairy operation based in Alice. It was started in 2007 and supplies milk to various companies such
as Clover. This project is in partnership with Fort Hare University, which also runs the farm, conveniently located adjacent to the university. It acts as a training institute that mentors 15 students every year in a three to four-year experiential learning programme. Young black farming students are given experience in various responsibilities which include farm management. The operation employs 40 people and generates an annual profit of R2 500 000. The Keiskamma Irrigation Scheme is currently resuscitating 600ha of irrigation with plans to milk 2 000 cows
eventually. In partnership with the Department of Agriculture, and more than 30 black emerging farmers, this initiative will employ more than 40 people once in full production. The Ncera Macadamia Project is located 40km south of East London and was started in 2008. The project plans to plant 300ha of macadamia crop and 50ha has already been planted. 10 000 community members stand to benefit and 300 people will be employed once fully planted. The Middledrift Dairy Farm, shared Amadlelo’s, Gold Impumelelo Award. A community of 65 families collectively owned 280ha of land suitable for dairy farming due to favourable climatic conditions. It was not being used to its full potential as the community possessed no farming equipment, no commercial farming knowledge, no capital and had no access to markets. The community then created the Gwebindlala Trust and established the Middledrift Dairy Company. The
shareholders of the company are the National Empowerment Fund (40%) who loaned R9 920 000 in start up costs and working capital; Amadlelo Agri (40%) donated 600 cows at a cost of R4 500 000 and an additional R3 500 000 due to cost overruns. The Gwebindlala Trust (20%) made 167ha of land available and is working towards paying off their NEF loan in 10 years to have a 60% stake in Middledrift Dairy. Operations started in October 2008; 14 people were employed on a fulltime basis and in its first seven months, produced 1.2 million litres of milk. Their goal is to produce 3.8 million litres and employ 30 people in three years. In 18 months they turned moribund farmland into a commercially-viable dairy farm with an annual profit of R400 000. Middledrift Dairy Farm is managed by Jeannette Rikhotso (pictured left), under the mentorship of Amadlelo. She is a young black woman in her twenties with agricultural qualifications from Fort Hare University. The intention is
for Jeannette to take over the overall management of Middledrift Farm. Community members involved in Middledrift are exposed to all facets of farming with three people from the Trust, serving on the Board of Directors and five on the management committee that meets every month. The staff complement is 20, and includes two managers, four contract workers and 14 employees. At the launch of Middledrift on the 5th of March 2010, the CIO of the National Empowerment Fund, Mr Frencel Gillion praised the initiative: “the black and white partnership in Middledrift Dairy is crucial to sustainability of the economy in so far as it provides important lessons in resolving land resettlement dynamics which our country is still grappling with, and for this important precedent, the community and strategic partners deserve resounding applause. The NEF is truly proud to be a part of this important and historic landmark project.” Award sponsored by:
Jeffrey Every (Chief Executive Officer) PO Box 15515, Emerald Hill, 6011 Tel: +27 41 368 6691 • Fax: +27 41 368 6694 • Email: agricon@iafrica.com
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Harvest of Hope
AGRICULTURE & FOOD SECURITY
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Is there a way to feed a community, be ecologocially-sustainable and create jobs? Abalimi Bezekhaya’s Harvest of Hope has done just that by creating a micro-farming enterprise that helps address urban food security whilst simultaneously assisting people to generate income by selling organic vegetables. Abalimi has been involved in urban agriculture since 1982 and has been working with more than 2 000 people around Cape Town’s townships for which they received a Silver Impumelelo Innovations award in 2004.
heir most recent initiative – Harvest of Hope – was started in 2008 in areas such as Nyanga and Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats. Groups of interested and unemployed people are equipped with tools and training to grow vegetables on small plots of land to feed their families and sell the surplus vegetables for a profit. Most of the farmers are women, who are divided into local groups of three to eight growers. There are currently 130 farmers working on 13 community gardens and they earn between R200 and R700 every month. Each garden plot is about the size of a
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classroom, with each group working between four and 20 plots. One particularly fruitful garden earns up to R7 000 and R8 000 per month on less than 5 000 m2. Although many urban agriculture projects grow vegetables, they often lack a commercially-viable market to sell their produce – which Harvest of Hope works hard to ensure. Christina Kaba, who came to Khayelitsha in 1984 and is now part of Abalimi’s management team, mentions Harvest of Hope’s significance: “we create the market for the urban farmers all around Cape Town and the townships.”
Harvest of Hope does this by providing firm orders at predetermined prices through a “box system”. Boxes are stocked with vegetables, harvested from community gardens. They are packaged at a packing shed in Phillipi and sold at predetermined points, usually schools, on a weekly basis. The produce is harvested and collected early in the day, and then reaches collection points in the afternoon to be picked up for families in time for dinner. Harvest of Hope sells 100 boxes on average but hopes to get up to 600 boxes per week by 2012 by increasing the number of farmers and the amount
of produce harvested. Farmers are not allowed to sell more than 50% of their produce, as food security is an important objective of Abalimi’s. Their goal is to bring families from survival to subsistence, and eventually to semi-commercial status. Each box has a full range of seasonal organic vegetables and costs R95 per week for a large box and R65 for a small box. Customers can pay per week or per month. Harvest of Hope also donates 10% of their produce to community organisations, supporting many HIV-positive people through projects such as the Etafeni Day Care Centre, the Fikelela AIDS Project, Fikelela Children’s Centre and Beautiful Gate Home. Customers like Linley Max are pleased that the project is local and organic. It is convenient for her to pick up her box at her son’s school. She also knows that she is helping the community create and maintain jobs by supporting the initiative. The manager at Harvest of Hope, Bridget
Impey, boasts: “what makes the project special is that it is a social project and that the vegetables are absolutely spectacular. They are really tasty and they’re delivered on the day they’re harvested, so when people get them they are fresh.” The project costs R3 million per annum. Abalimi Director, Rob Small, comments: “when we told the Department of Agriculture that that’s what we do, they said, that’s impossible, you cannot do that with that little, but that is exactly what we’re doing.” The amount covers the “total package” says Small – all the salaries of the staff, marketing, infrastructure, training, ongoing follow-up and support in the field, manure and seeds. Small notes: “we’ve done it, and it’s possible to do it anywhere and create hundreds of thousands of livelihoods, around the country.” Farmers are paid a total of 50% of Harvest of Hope’s total income which to date has amounted to R290 000 from a total of R540 000. Communities
on the Cape Flats are seeing tangible results. A project volunteer says: “Everything is changed for our families. We started from scratch with nothing but now we see everything is going well. Everyday you’ve got veggies to go home and feed your family.” Many of these women, the oldest being 86 years of age, are empowered through farming in Abalimi. The incomes of community groups are deposited into group accounts and the women are educated about financial management. Another woman working with Harvest of Hope agrees: “I am from a community with very high unemployment. The garden changed the lives of the people in my community, especially the women because they are working every day, waking up at 6 o’clock, and working in the garden. At the end of the day, they can give something to eat to the children and then the little money that they make can be used to send the children to school.” Award sponsored by:
Rob Rob Small Small (Co-Director) (Co-Director) PO Box 44, Observatory, PO Box 44, Observatory, 7708, 7708, Cape Cape Town Town Telephone: +27 21 371 1653 • Fax: +27 86 613 1178 • Email: info@abalimi.org.za Tel: +27 21 371 1653 • Fax: +27 86 613 1178 • Email: info@abalimi.org.za
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