Dr Brigalia Bam the Lifetime Achiever in the 2011 Award is using the R100 000 she received to resurrect a pre-primary school that was started by her mother, Temperance Mazwi Bam, in their home village of Goqwana where the entire community helped to build the village's first school many years ago with mud and branches.
Dr Elmi Muller, 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 will use the R100 000 she received from the award to help HIV positive patients in need of a kidney transplant to get access to the procedure.
Dr Nobulembu Mwanda, a medical doctor and pioneer in the field of prevention and holistic management of child abuse will use the R100 000 she received to establish an outdoor exercise and skateboard park for the youth of Soweto to create an attractive space for them and educate them with life skills.
Rosalia Mashale, the founder of the Baphumelele Education Centre and Children's Home in Khayelitsha one of South Africa's most marginalised and poverty-stricken township in South Africa. She cares for hundreds of abandoned and orphaned children from infants to 18-year-olds and takes care of teenagers infected with HIV/Aids and will use the R100 000 she received to employ extra care-givers. Furthermore, she would fund school fees and uniforms and stationery as well as educational tours. Some funds have already been used to buy medical equipment for the newly opened Paediatric Respite Centre.
Shona McDonald who has built a business from her garage to one that impacts the lives of over 65 000 children with mobility disabilities living in South Africa. Her enterprise has received numerous national and international awards for the social impact it has had. She will spend the R100 000 on research to assist her foundation in its advocacy and training work, helping to raise awareness of the importance of appropriate, well-fitting children's wheelchairs and seating supports which are designed to improve each child's function and independence.
Ednah Zulu, the first principal of the Ngqengelele High School in a small village, Mahlabathini in deep rural KwaZulu-Natal is a courageous woman who took up a challenge to transform a one classroom teaching facility into a high school that is awarded year after year for its matric pass rate and excellence. She is using the R100 000 to build a library at her school. She will then continue to fundraise for the books, shelving and computers. She will also buy a new sewing machine and materials, so that the women in the area can raise more money for the school and the library by making and selling school uniforms.
The Award has partnered with the Wheat Women's Fund that ensures sustainability by assisting the winners to manage the investment of R100 000 towards their projects.
It has 13 years history of investing in women and developing women's leadership. Since 1998, WHEAT has been making small grants to grassroots women-led organisations that work in their communities to advance women's rights.
