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Excellence Award
Bongani Mqaise
(Team representative)
Bayside and Hillside Aluminium Smelters, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Bongani Mqaise and his colleagues were instrumental in developing Ethembeni Care Centre to provide care to people with HIV/AIDS. In Zululand, where our aluminium smelters are located, around 38 per cent of the people are HIV positive. This is among the highest rates of HIV infection in South Africa.
Ethembeni - a Zulu word meaning ‘a place of hope’ - was established by Bayside and Hillside Aluminium and several other local companies to provide affordable care for infected employees, under the management of the Zululand Chamber of Business Foundation. The idea was initiated by the Bayside and Hillside occupational health team.
Launched in December 1996 as a 12-bed facility in a former forestry building, the Centre consistently operated beyond its capacity. During 2002, the need for expansion became increasingly evident. Simultaneously, plans were under way to develop Amangwe Village, a community-operated complex for tackling the social problems related to HIV/AIDS.
Bayside and Hillside Aluminium, together with the BHP Billiton Development Trust, supported the funding of the Amangwe Village project, including the relocation of Ethembeni to the six-hectare site and its expansion to a 45 bedfacility with an additional 16-bed paediatric ward.
At the Centre, the trained staff offer confidential HIV testing and counselling, palliative care, lifestyle management workshops and medical consultations. Training is provided to healthcare coordinators, designated caregivers, schoolteachers and community support groups.
Positive Health Support Group meetings are held regularly for former patients and family and friends who require further counselling; and HIV/AIDS education workshops are conducted at schools, churches, youth groups and other community organisations. The Centre also supports the South African Food Garden Foundation, which encourages rural communities to grow nutritional immune-boosting vegetables and herbs for medicinal purposes.
For Bongani and his team, the objective is for Ethembeni Care Centre to become the flagship resource centre for HIV/AIDS interventions in Zululand. Since its opening, assistance has been provided to hundreds of in-patients and to thousands of other people with HIV/AIDS through community outreach initiatives.
Highly Commended
Humera Malik
(Team representative)
Zamzama Gas Field, Islamabad, Pakistan
Humera and the Community Development team identified through a multi-stakeholder consultative process that lack of access to education was the primary concern of local people. The team initiated a project to provide education to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in the community, especially girls, with the cooperation of community groups, government, and local NGOs.
Five primary schools have been established in the area, providing schooling to nearly 500 children from 60 villages. School management committees have been organised and teachers receive ongoing training. Planned as a capacity-building exercise, the program has involved active community participation at every stage.
The Community Development team provides technical assistance and facilitates the planning and implementation of the project through NGO partners. This helps ensure that local people are involved in the decision-making process and enables stakeholders to gain the skills and experience to carry out similar initiatives in the future.
Rick Peters
(Team representative)
GEMCO, Groote Eylandt, Australia
Rick and his team initiated an Aboriginal Employment Strategy at GEMCO’s Groote Eylandt operation, which combines employment and training for Aboriginal people. They are employed in full-time positions with the Rehabilitation and Mine Services (RMS) section.
The training, carried out by the Northern Territory University, covers literacy and numeracy as well as skills associated with the scope of work of the RMS section. After completing the basic training, employees may continue with further studies in chosen areas, including specialist skills applicable to other positions at GEMCO. The program, which has been operating since 1997, has been highly successful.
Most of the participants are now either employed in mainstream mining activities, continuing their studies or undertaking leadership roles in their communities. Turnover of Aboriginal employees has reduced, and the Company has a growing pool of skilled local employees.
Norah Segoati
(Team representative)
Johannesburg Head Office, Gauteng, South Africa
Norah and the BHP Billiton Development Trust team developed the Victim Empowerment Program, in response to violence against women and children. The program aims to contribute towards victim empowerment initiatives through trauma counselling, training and capacity building, research, and advocacy.
In partnership with a local NGO, a model for prosecution of cases relating to child sexual abuse and rape was developed. An intermediary room was introduced, allowing children to testify in front of closed-circuit television cameras rather than having to face the accused in a courtroom situation, so helping reduce trauma for the victim. The time taken for cases to be resolved has been reduced from approximately two years to nine months or less. This has led to an increase in the conviction rate, as evidence is more reliable.
Following its inception four years ago, the program is now being used in four provinces, servicing 13 courts, and has benefited nearly 8000 children.
Merit
Luis Alberto Ponguta Gomez
(Team representative)
Cerro Matoso Nickel Mine and Smelter, Cordoba, Columbia
Luis and his team, together with some teachers and the Mayor of Montelíbano, have led the establishment of the Centre of Municipal Education Resources, in order to make possible the training of low-income students in a single place and improve the quality of their education. Thousands of students from local primary and high schools are now accessing the Centre’s educational programs and facilities.
Alcido Mausse
(Team representative)
Mozal Aluminium Smelter, Maputo Province, Mozambique
Alcido and the Mozal Community Development Trust team coordinate sustainable community projects supported by the Trust. Two cooperative agricultural centres have been established to provide training for local farmers. To encourage diversification, two chicken broiling businesses have been set up that are managed by the farmers, who are learning both technical and business management skills through the process.
Herbert Moreschi
(Team representative)
Mineração Rio do Norte SA (MRN), Pará, Brazil
Herbert and his team have implemented a malaria control program in remote riverside communities where the incidence of malaria is among the highest in Latin America. The aim is to reduce mortality rates and improve the quality of life in the communities. Since 1999, the incidence of malaria has fallen by 96 per cent; and the cost of treating people with malaria at the local hospital has fallen significantly.
Sally McGann
(Team representative)
BHP Billiton Iron Ore, Western Australia
Sally and her team in the Aboriginal Affairs Department have managed a unique archaeological project at the Area C project. In collaboration with the Aboriginal traditional owners of the site, the team excavated stone arrangements of great archaeological significance and relocated them to a safe location where they can remain undisturbed and protected. The project involved replicating the exact arrangement of the stones, which number more than 1000.
Bongani Mqaise
(Team representative)
Bayside and Hillside Aluminium Smelters, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Bongani and his team have established a crèche for HIV/AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in one of the poorest rural areas of Kwa-Zulu Natal. The crèche provides care and food for children in a community where some households have a child as young as nine as the head of the family. Part of the funding for the project came from the prize money Hillside received in the 2002 BHP Billiton HSEC Awards.
Lucio Rios
(Team representative)
Tintaya Copper Mine, Cusco, Peru
Lucio and his team have established a ‘dialogue table’ with mine stakeholders, including neighbouring communities and NGOs. The first stage of the process identified community concerns, the second stage identified the extent of issues, and the third stage has involved progressive implementation of solutions. The consultative process is the first of its kind among mining operations in Peru.