Mothers Unite wins Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award

In addition, a special announcement was made at the award ceremony: the Cape Town jury unanimously recommended the establishment of an offshoot legacy project to offer structured information, knowledge and communications support to all 254 projects that entered the 2012 awards.

Legacy project

The Deutsche Bank Urban Age Legacy Project will operate under two main themes: community place making and identity (initiatives that use space to achieve an improved economic, social and physical environment) and local development partnerships (initiatives that connect different projects with the public authorities to achieve greater impact).

The network will ensure that the city as a whole benefits from all the exciting initiatives and ideas that surfaced during the award process. The project will be funded with seed money from Deutsche Bank South Africa and Deutsche Bank's Alfred Herrhausen Society to encourage other companies to join this initiative.

Dr Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank said, "These projects are South African ambassadors of good ideas and better solutions, not just for Cape Town but for all cities in the world. They are ambassadors of hope."

This year saw the highest number of entries into the competition:

• 2007: Mumbai - 73 entries
  
• 2008: São Paulo - 133 entries
  
• 2009: Istanbul - 87 entries
  
• 2010: Mexico City - 193 entries

Mothers Unite against gangsterism, drugs, violence

The winning project - one that most benefitted local residents through an improved urban environment - was founded in 2007 in a mother's home. Mothers Unite provides a safe haven from the gangsterism, drugs and violence that are part of street and home life in the area.

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Three afternoons a week, in an infrastructure village in the grounds of the City's Seawinds multi-purpose hall, 120 children between the ages of three and 15 are provided with alternatives such as storytelling, computer literacy, food garden training, art therapy, sports and play. Built with donated shipping containers, the village is made up of a library, kitchen, office, sheltered area, playground and food garden.

The project addresses the family unit and encourages family participation and a shared commitment to community development, providing a support base for the family and a safe place for children to play, explore and develop.

Widespread recognition

The award, which comes during a tough economic crisis, serves not only as welcome funding for Mothers Unite but also as widespread recognition for what it has already achieved against great odds.

The organisers plan to obtain further educational resources for after-school programmes, revamp the playground, add to their toy and book libraries and purchase better kitchen equipment and nutritional ingredients for the children's meals.

They would like to buy a vehicle to overcome their biggest operational obstacle and be able to offer a small stipend to volunteers who have worked tirelessly.

The prize money will also allow the organisation to purchase stationery and equipment for emergency first aid response courses, and contribute to 160 computer literacy courses and 80 home garden start-ups to broaden their great work in Lavender Hill.

Jury quotes

"Mothers Unite is not only an outstanding example of a professional community-driven childcare and education initiative; it is a far greater vision of a bottom-up social and environmental transformation strategy already unfolding. In the face of multiple challenges and literally arid soil, the resilient women behind this work are reshaping their physical context and social environment, claiming their right to municipal resources, to safety and dignity for their community - a Cape Town community, like many others, stereotypically seen as violent and impoverished.

"Clearly, Mothers Unite sees through different eyes and is driven by a commitment to a different future for Lavender Hill and its children. We honour their compassionate, insightful and innovative approaches to the daily obstacles they face. May their example and the award spotlight they now stand in, inform and inspire others working in similar conditions as well as open the way for increased collaboration with partners for the benefit of all involved." Malika Ndlovu - poet, playwright and performer.

"Despite being literally in the shadow of Table Mountain and Devil's Peak, Lavender Hill is a neighbourhood facing serious economic and social marginalisation and dysfunctionality. Mothers Unite made a huge impression on me as a grassroots innovation that is succeeding despite overwhelming odds." Andrew Boraine, CEO of the Cape Town Partnership.

For more, go to www.alfred-herrhausen-gesellschaft.de/en/2935.html.