2011 Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year: Health Care-Givers category finalists

The panel of judges sifted through hundreds of entries to select three finalists in each of the five categories of the Award, namely: Health Care-Givers; Educators; Socio-Economic Business Developers; Good Neighbours Against Crime and Youth Movers.

The work of the finalists in all the categories is currently profiled in the media. The public are invited to vote for the women who they believe to be the most deserving of winning in each category.

The finalists in the Health Care-Givers Category

Nomasango Xabanisa (left) and Dr Elmi Muller.

Nomasango Xabanisa is the founder and director of Sibongile - Thank You in Xhosa, a non-profit organisation that cares for children with disabilities in Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town.

Not only does she care for children with disabilities but she is at the forefront of providing holistic care and is a force of enlightenment in a community riddled with superstition showing them the way forward to cherish those least able to care for themselves.

At Sibongile, named after Xabanisa's daughter, children with disabilities are made to feel loved and they receive excellent physical, emotional, mental and spiritual care. Children who come to Sibongile have their life expectancy and quality of life greatly increased.

It all started with her personal loss and great love for her daughter Sibongile, who sadly suffered from Cerebral Palsy and died at the young age of 15 in 2005. When her daughter died, Xabanisa made a promise to her on her deathbed that she would care for children with disabilities.

It is this promise that has been her motivation. Against all odds, battling the prejudices and discrimination in her community she persevered to fulfil her promise to her dying daughter. She stood up for the vulnerable people in society who do not have a voice in a community where many people believe children with disabilities are cursed and they can bring a curse onto others. If they are not abandoned then they are often hidden due to fear and shame.

Xabanisa has also highlighted the problems facing parents and guardians of these children, and the reason why many have been abandoned. Carers often struggle financially as they need to stay at home to look after their sick children so they are unable to go out to work. There are the social and cultural pressures from families and neighbours, who often despise children with disabilities. Even if children are not abandoned, they may well suffer neglect, which causes their physical/ emotional condition to deteriorate.

However, Xabanisa has never judged these parents or guardians. She has been a bridge builder who encourages, negotiates and mediates with them to take an interest in their children and visit them. She also tries very hard to work alongside the existing health care services.

When Xabanisa started in 2005, she received training at the Red Cross Children's Hospital and began to care for six children with Cerebral Palsy including her own daughter in her small two-bedroom home with little funds for food and clothing. Later that year she coordinated the donation of two containers.

Even though this was a step forward, there still wasn't any electricity, running water, space or money for food, clothing and diapers. Sadly, her daughter Sibongile passed away shortly afterwards and true to her promise she did not stop but continued her work. More and more people became aware of Sibongile and the first international donations came in sustaining the basic needs of the children by the end of that year.

Sibongile currently consists of four containers, which shelters the Sibongile Daycare Centre. One container is used as an office, the second container is a kitchen and storeroom, the third as a laundry or bathroom and the fourth is a classroom for the children. They also have two well-maintained houses with three bedrooms each, a kitchen, a bathroom and a playground, which are the Sibongile Day & Night Care Centres.

Both houses accommodate 12 children and are open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. The Day Care Centre has six children and is open weekly from 08h00 to 15h30. There are currently 33 children from 1-14years, all severely disabled and some are HIV positive. The majority are unable to feed himself or herself (some are unable to swallow so need to be tube fed), sit, talk or move without stimulus. Sibongile started with three staff and now employs 12 women from the local community as permanent caregivers, 3 caregivers for the day-care centre, a secretary for the office and driver.

She has overcome personal difficulties and many obstacles to provide a loving, enriching environment for children with severe disabilities. Her example, perseverance and faith are an inspiration to her fellow South Africans and it brings hope for a brighter future.

Sister Ethel Normoyle.

Sister Ethel Normoyle, the founder of the Missionvale Care Centres outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, is a role model and leader who has earned South African icon status for the inspirational work she has done to help alleviate poverty with infectious compassion.

She has defied all odds since she decided 23 years ago to single-handedly set out to do something about the cycle of despair of the people of Missionvale who lived in tin shacks with no service delivery or proper sanitation, no running water and a constant infestation of flies and stench in temperatures that range between 28 to 32°C for most of the year. Approximately 60% of the population in Missionvale has HIV and AIDS.

Sister Ethel started it all in 1988 by walking 45 minutes every day from her house to the township with her biggest obstacle to win the trust of the people. Her first breakthrough was when a woman in the township, Diane offered her the shade of a tree growing outside her home. She started her mission by teaching children to read and write, sheltered during the rain and with the comfort of shade in the warm African sun.

The children came to her in large numbers, as they could not attend government schools because their parents could not register them. Without a birth certificate they had no identification numbers and were not recognised as citizens and therefore had no entitlement to education.

Since she started to teach under Diane's tree Sister Ethel worked every day to improve the quality of life for the people of Missionvale with sustainable solutions. After 23 years of service and extensive fundraising Missionvale and Missionvale Care Centres are now shining examples of how a single person can impact on the future of the country.

The Missionvale Clinic where people receive medical care was the first building of the Centre then followed the Nutrition and Wellness Unit, which is the largest and busiest operation. It is run on a daily basis to give 500 heads of household soup powder and bread with another 300 receiving a weekly food parcel. Sister Ethel firmly believes that in Africa today nutrition is medicine.

The Clothing Warehouse was started at the Centre, as they believe poverty can hide the dignity of a person but when you don't have proper clothing to wear your image is tarnished. The Caregivers Unit followed to attend each day to those too sick to come to the Centre.

Sister Ethel also felt that the Centre was not giving an adequate service to people infected and affected by HIV / Aids and The Resource Centre was opened during their 20th Anniversary Celebration in 2008.

Sister Ethel believes that education is the only ticket out of poverty and plays a big part in one's personal, emotional, social and economic development. She also started a school, which is strengthened with the Children's Support and Development Program, an after-school program that helps provide children with a fun, safe and enriching alternative to life on the streets after school.

Skills Development Programmes are also in operation to give children the basic foundational skills they will need to lift themselves out of poverty. It also provides adult education and skills development programs like sewing and gardening.

Lastly, the Centre has The Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church, which the people of Missionvale wanted; as they believed that if they build a house for God, they would get better. This Centre has come far since its beginnings under that tree and today employs 41 staff members full time and serve an average of 1000 people per day.

Sister Ethel has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Health Science at the University of Port Elizabeth and has been honoured by numerous national and international awards and fellowships. She is also the proud recipient of the Order of the Grand Counsellor of the Baobab: Silver, one of South Africa's top awards, for her excellent service to society.

Dr Elmi Muller is a pioneer in the medical field, who with her transplant team, were the first in the world to transplant a kidney from a HIV-positive donor to a HIV-positive recipient. She carried out this historic transplant in October 2008 and has since performed nine similar procedures.

Dr Muller who is based at the University of Cape Town's Department of Surgery is a full-time surgeon at Groote Schuur Hospital. She initiated the HIV positive-to-positive transplantation project and is continuing to drive this. The first results of the surgery were published in one of the most prestigious and high-impact journals in the medical field, the New England Journal of Medicine.

The project was prompted by the great need for organs in the country and specifically because HIV positive patients with end-stage renal failure had limited options available to them. Some of the patients Dr Muller transplanted were sent home to die, as they were not able to receive dialysis in the limited resource setting of the state sector in South Africa.

South Africa has the biggest HIV-population in the world, which means there are a considerable number of HIV-positive patients with end-stage renal failure in the country that can be helped now.

When Dr Muller started this project at Groote Schuur Hospital, all HIV-positive patients were doomed to die once they had end-stage renal failure. They did not qualify for dialysis or transplantation in the state sector. Her work has changed this and now HIV- positive patients are accepted onto dialysis and they are all listed on her transplantation programme.

Dr Muller has had the courage and fortitude to continue her groundbreaking work despite many challenges. Her research has drawn some criticism initially, but despite this, she strived with determination with the result that 10 HIV-positive patients have received a new lease of life through these kidney transplants.

The work of Dr Muller and her team continue to push boundaries in South Africa and the rest of the world. There is also much acknowledgment for their work and international renal-units now want to follow in her footsteps. HIV positive donors are now considered for the first time in the USA.

Dr Muller has worked with Professor Marc Mendelson of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Professor Del Kahn of the Department of Surgery and Dr Zunaid Barday of the Division of Nephrology to ensure that all clinical aspects of this complicated procedure has been covered.

One of the main concerns in the transplantation of a kidney from an HIV-positive donor to an HIV-positive recipient is the potential risk of 'super infection'. This is when a strain or subtype of HIV triggers a more rapid progression of HIV in the transplant recipient.

Other problems are very high rejection rates and complicated drug interactions. Patients need to be extremely compliant with their medication and need regular follow-ups to avoid the above named problems.

Dr Muller studied medicine because of her interest in people rather than an interest in business or finance. Doing surgery provided a challenging career opportunity with a practical approach that was attractive to her. The HIV transplant project has been a creative and innovative way for her to help people who were otherwise doomed to die.

She is determined to continue her work to better the lives of all the patients with end-stage renal failure who are currently awaiting transplantation in South Africa. Dr Muller also has a strong interest in teaching and believes the future lies in the hands of our current medical students. It is for this reason that she enjoys being part of the undergraduate teaching programme in Surgery at the University of Cape Town.

Through this Award the Shoprite Group wants to focus the attention of South Africans on finding solutions for those critical areas affecting the future of the country.

The winners will be awarded with individual prize money while the group will also give R100 000 towards the work of these winners to impact positively on the future of the country.

The Award culminates in a spectacular gala evening in July 2011 at Emperors Palace in Gauteng to announce the winners. This dazzling event will be broadcast during prime time on Monday, 8 August 2011 on M-Net. The programme will be re-broadcast on National Women's Day, 09 August 2011.