VISION
THE AWARDS CYCLE
2010 Sustainability Award Winners
Greening the Moses Mabhida Staduim
This is another initiative of the Greening Durban 2010 Programme. The aim is for Durban to run a carbon-neutral World Cup in 2010, and a number of projects have been established to try and achieve this. The Greening Moses Mabhida Stadium (the main Durban stadium to be used in the World Cup) focused on making the reconstruction of the old Kings Park stadium completely carbon neutral, by off-setting all the carbon emissions of building, running and maintenance process.
Eye Care and Home Care
A lack of affordable medical services in and around Grahamstown has meant that many people in the area are not able to access healthcare. To address this, St John Grahamstown has established two programmes: The Community Eye Clinic; and Home-Based Care/First Aid training.
Ndlovu Care Group Rural Advancement Programme
The Ndlovu Care Group (NCG) is an NGO focused on empowering rural communities towards sustainable community health and community care. To this end, NCG aims to establish partnerships with government departments, CSO and corporate groups, and roll out Rural Advancement Programmes (RAPs) in different areas. These include Autonomous Treatment Centres (ATCs), supplying community healthcare; and Community Care, Health, Awareness and Mobilisation Programmes (CHAMP).
Amadlelo Projects
Prior to the 1994 elections in South Africa, black-owned or occupied land was often forcibly taken and given to white farmers; this is now being addressed by the current government through its land redistribution programme, but it is facing many problems: land has been returned to families with little or no experience in farming, meaning farms fall into dis-use or production drops; while skilled white farmers have no land.In order to try to address this, Amadlelo was established in 2004 by 70 commercial dairy farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Project Masiluleke
South Africa has the highest number of HIV positive people in the world. Project Masiluleke was developed to provide solutions that interact directly with end-users, i.e. those impacted by HIV/AIDS, on a large scale, by intervening at all stages of the HIV care continuum, such as: promoting HIV testing, treatment, treatment adherence, and retention in care.
HIV/AIDS VCT & TB Screening
People generally only test for HIV for medical reasons (i.e. because they are already showing symptoms of an illness), which means that there are large numbers of people who do not know their status, are asymptomatic, but who are infectious. In order to try to address this, @heart partnered with Desmond Tutu TB Centre to begin providing outreach VCT centres, which also have TB testing facilities. In partnership with Imizamo Yethu, @heart also provides community support services.
SOHCO Amalinda Village
SOHCO is a Social Housing Institution, aiming to build lower-income housing, for those who earn between R2500 and R7500 a month. SOHCO has built housing villages in a number of places, including Buffalo City Municipality, East London, Cape Town and Durban; but the main focus of this application is on Amalinda Village (in Buffalo City Municipality).
Music Therapy Clinic
Numerous groups of adults and children across the country experience trauma from different sources, including crime and violence, abuse, HIV-infection, long-term hospitalization (eg. for HIV or TB), and those who care for those with HIV/TB. Many also have no outlet for this trauma, and battle to cope with everyday life, meaning those who care for them (eg. caregivers, educators at schools) also struggle. Music Therapy has been identified as a means of dealing with this trauma, and channeling it in a constructive manner. The Music Therapy Community Clinic (MTCC) was therefore developed in 2003 to provide music therapy services to underprivileged and previously disadvantaged communities.
Hantam Community Education Trust
Many areas in the Northern Cape have little access to any form of education, healthcare, or income, apart from work on local farms. They are far from any towns or services, and this condemns many people in them to lives of poverty and unemployment. The Hantam Community Education Trust (HCET) was established in the Colesburg District in 1989 to attempt to address some of these problems.
Dreamfields
Despite the aims of country-wide development in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup, it is likely that the majority of this impact will be felt in the urban areas. Thus, Dreamfields was established in 2007 in partnership with Old Mutual and BHP Billiton, with the aim of developing football resources in more rural areas, and encouraging the development of football teams and leagues.
Violence Prevention Through Urban Upgrading
Khayelitsha, outside Cape Town in the Western Cape, has been identified as one of the most dangerous areas in the country, with incredibly high rates of murder and rape, as well as other crimes. This is the result of numerous factors, including a lack of access to services, employment opportunities, schooling etc. City of Cape Town (CoCT) therefore partnered with the German government, through the German Development Bank (Kfw), to try to develop the Khayelitsha area to reduce crime, and to improve the safety of residents in the area.
Protecting Futures Programme
The incidence of absenteeism and school drop-out of girls increases dramatically when they reach puberty. In many cases, it is because girls begin menstruating, but have not been taught what this means, or how to deal with it. They are also often ridiculed at schools, and the lack of decent toilet facilities at many schools only makes this worse. It was therefore decided to begin doing education workshops for girls at schools in four regions in the Eastern Cape – Alfred Nzo, Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, and Ukhahlamba).
Mothers2Mothers
Although mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS is almost entirely preventable, it remains a huge problem in South Africa, with overburdened healthcare systems, social stigma, and lack of access to healthcare being the main culprits. In order to create more effective prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), Mothers2Mothers (m2m) was established in 2001, with the focus of empowering HIV+ mothers to be involved in the healthcare process, improving the levels of service deliveries to mothers in the future.
Christel House SA
Christel House international was started in 1996 in the US, aiming to provide quality education to those who would not normally be able to access it. The South African branch – Christel House SA (CHSA) – was opened in 2002 with 292 students (from Grade 1 to 5). The school now has a high school and a primary school, encompassing all grades from Grade R to 12. The focus is on a holistic approach to education, and so the school also focuses on health and wellness, community outreach, and service learning.
PMTCT – Performance: UGU District Health
The Ugu District is in rural KwaZulu-Natal, and has been identified as a presidential priority node, due to high levels of poverty, unemployment, and HIV infection (38% prevalence at antenatal clinics). The rate of mother to child transmission (MTCT) was more than 20%, despite the availability of Nevirapine and AZT. It was therefore decided to address problems in the prevention of MTCT (PMTCT) system in three districts (Ugu, Ethekwini and Umgungundhlovu), with the aim of reaching an MTCT rate of less than 5%.
Run Home to Read
Despite the importance of Earl Childhood Development (ECD) in a child’s formative years (0-7years), many children do not have access to any kind of interventions or stimulation. These children struggle more at schools than those who do receive ECD, as they have missed out on an important developmental step. Project Literacy therefore developed the Run Home to Read (RHTR) programme, to help encourage ECD for those children who do not have access to formal centres.
Durban Landfill Gas to Electricity Project
Landfills generate a large amount of gas, most of which is Methane and Carbon Dioxide, which are both Greenhouse Gases (GHG). They also (predictably) produce large amounts of odour. It was therefore decided to attempt to address both of these problems at landfill sites in KwaZulu-Natal, and two sites were chosen – Mariannhill and Bisasar Road. Engines were built and commissioned at both sites, and received registration to buy carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism. These were two of the first CDM projects in the country. They now both produce useable renewable energy which is used by the Ethekwini Municipality.
Thembani Handcraft Project
The town of Bedford in the Eastern Cape faces high levels of unemployment and poverty, and there are few viable options for employment in the town. Thus, it was decided to establish a project which could provide employment opportunities and skills-development, as well as providing assistance to the Thembani Special Day Care Centre. The main focus was on empowering women, who face high levels of domestic violence, and are often unable to leave if abused, because they are financially dependant on their partner. Thus, the project also aimed to empower these women to become independent and access their own source of income.
Harvest of Hope – From Seed to Table
Throughout the country, there are the problems of poverty, unemployment, and food scarcity. Although farming is a viable option to address many of these issues, most people do not have access to much land, and this makes farming a difficult venture. Thus, in 1982, Abalimi Bezekhaya launched a subsistence micro-farming movement. The aim was to use available land, and teach unemployed people to farm it on a micro-scale, to use for subsistence
Organic Classroom Programme
Schools Environmental Education and Development (SEED) therefore developed the Organic Classroom Programme, which assists learners and schools to develop permaculture gardens, which can enhance food security, and provide a learning opportunity about the environment, conservation and food security. It also aims to career-path permaculture, by providing accredited training so that people can turn permaculture initiatives into viable career or economic opportunities. Thus, SEED helps schools to develop permaculture gardens, which supplement school feeding schemes; assists educators to use this as a teaching tool; develops, publishes and distributes textbooks and training materials; and provides accredited Permaculture Training.
Orange Bag Domestic Recycling Project
The Polokwane Declaration in 2000 prescribed a 50% reduction in waste to landfill by 2012; and zero waste to landfill by 2022. To try to achieve this, the Cleansing and Solid Waste Unit of the eThekwini Municipality initiated a new recycling project in August 2007.
NOAH Model
NOAH (Nurturing Orphans of AIDS for Humanity) was established in 2000 as an attempt to respond to the sheer number and problems of AIDS-orphans in South Africa today (estimated at 1.7m at the moment; and predicted to rise to 2.5m by 2015). Because of the massive number of orphans, a programme needed to be established that could realistically be provided to every orphan in the country, which could be provided even in the case of external resource or NGO failure, and which is flexible enough to be adapted to the community needs and resources available. NOAH is invited by a community to try to assist them in dealing with their orphans; and meetings are then held with the community, where leaders are identified and invited to form a committee. The community then mobilizes volunteers, who receive training, and orphans in the community are identified. Volunteers and NOAH assist children in obtaining birth certificates and accessing childcare grants and carry out home visits, to keep up to date with any problems arising in the orphan’s homes. A satellite office is then set up, staff are employed from the community, and the office starts to provide day-care and after-care facilities, or any necessary services. A fully-fledged Ark is eventually developed, which is intended to involve early childhood development programmes, peer education, structured sports activities (soccer, netball), computer literacy, cultural programmes (dancing, drama), nutrition programmes during aftercare and daycare (children are also actively involved in vegetable gardens at the site), bereavement counseling, and life-skills (on HIV/AIDS, good hygiene etc). Ongoing home visits are carried out to monitor the orphans involved; and monitoring and evaluation research is conducted on a continuous basis. Although NOAH is heavily involved during the start-up phase, the aim is for each Ark to be able to run independently (ie. If NOAH were to collapse, the Arks would be able to continue providing services). Government departments (eg. Social Development, Education, Health) also now provide funding or grants; and some Arks have been incorporated into the DSD’s respond plan. A number of Arks have now become independent NGOs, and are funded as such.
HIV/AIDS – Closing the Gaps in Care
Despite the government’s stated intention of rolling out HAART to all people who qualify for this treatment, there are still many people who are unable to access it. This is also true for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) treatment. This was partly due to the fact that many have to travel long distances to reach clinics where HAART is available; and also because many hospitals are heavily-burdened with patients suffering from TB, and in the last stages of AIDS. To try to address this, the Helderberg Hospital in the Eastern sub-district of Cape Town partnered with Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) to establish an ARV clinic at the hospital in 2004.
Athlone Institute Trust
The Athlone Institute was initially established in 1926, to run a number of primary schools in the area. Over time, and in response to challenges from the different governments since then, the project has had to adapt to meet the new needs of the community. The Athlone Institute was broken down into the Athlone Institute Trust, the Athlone Fund Trust, and the Athlone Charitable Trust. The different trusts are now intended to provide funding for community-initiatives that focus on poverty alleviation. To date, four projects have been established, as well as a number of ongoing assistance to churches, NPOs and for emergency/disaster funds. The four projects are the Athlone Institute Bursary Fund (AIBPROF); the Athlone House of Strength (AHOS); @COMPLAB (a computer help centre); and Athlone Institute Trust and Allandale Correctional Project (AITACOP). One new project is chosen each year; and each is funded for five years on a diminishing capitalization method. There are also attempts to engage with government departments in order to make the projects more sustainable.
Etafeni Project
The Etafeni project aims to address the numerous problems facing AIDS-affected and vulnerable children in Nyanga township outside Cape Town, where almost 28% of the population is HIV+. The Centre aims to provide holistic and sustainable community-based care, in a community-built and community-staffed centre. The Trust was formed in December 2001 in Cape Town; and the first phase involved training local community members (men and women) as builders to help build a pre-school (construction began in 2002).
Middeldrift Dairy Farm
Land redistribution has been an issue in South Africa since the elections in 1994. In the past, black landowners were forced to give up their land for white people; and this is only beginning to be redressed now. However, the current problem is that, once the land has been given back, many black landowners have minimal large-scale farming experience, meaning the redistributed land is not always used to its full potential. In order to address this, Amadlelo Agri was developed in 2004 by 70 commercial farmers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. The aim was to access unutilized or under-utilised agricultural land, bring it to its full potential, and train locals in farm management skills. To this end, land was found in the Middeldrift community, which was owned by 65 families who had minimal access to farming skills or equipment. A dairy farm was established, with funding from the National Empowerment Fund and Amadlelo Agri (Amadlelo also donated 600 cows). The milk is collected and bought by Clover Dairy. The farm has only been in operation since October 2008, but it already showing good growth, both in terms of the number of people employed, and the amount of milk produced. The aim is to employ 30 local people full-time (and to train a black female to manage the farm), and produce 3.8m litres of milk per year. Students from Fort Hare University are also identified and trained in farm management, and they will help to manage to project in the future.
Kuyasa CDM Project
South Africa has built roughly 2.4m low-income homes in the past 15 years; and aims to build a further 3m over the next 15. However, most of these houses have been built to very basic specifications, with little thought being given to thermal comfort or efficiency. These houses are then characterized by high levels of energy consumption (for heating in winter, for cooling in summer; and for cooking) which corresponds to high energy costs; and poor living conditions for occupants. The aim was therefore to make these houses more energy efficient, to conserve energy, to reduce costs for the occupants, and to benefit their health.
Impumelelo to Host its first Rural Development Best-Practice Workshop!
