Ace Africa’s Child to Child health clubs receive international recognition winning the Stars Impact Award 2014

December 2014

Last Saturday 13 December, Joanna Waddington, Founder and Country Director of Ace Africa Tanzania, attended the Stars Impact Award 2014 ceremony in London. There, she received the Stars Impact Award in the category of health for Africa and the Middle East for Ace’s Community Health & Wellbeing programme, which uses the Child to Child approach. Ace is the largest implementer of Child to Child in the East African region.

Joanna Waddington, Founder and Director of Ace Africa Tanzania, receives the 2014 Stars Impact Award for Health in Africa-Middle East from President Bill Clinton and Stars Foundation Founding Chairman HE Amr Al-Dabbagh. Photo: Andy Aitchison/Stars Foundation

Joanna Waddington, Founder and Director of Ace Africa Tanzania, receives the 2014 Stars Impact Award for Health in Africa-Middle East from President Bill Clinton and Stars Foundation Founding Chairman HE Amr Al-Dabbagh.
Photo: Andy Aitchison/Stars Foundation

Each year since 2001, the Stars Impact Awards has recognised and rewarded outstanding local organisations improving the lives of children in the countries with the highest rates of under-five mortality. With the Award comes a substantial amount of unrestricted funding – US$100,000 in flexible funding and US$20,000 in capacity building support – along with capacity building consultancy.

For Joanna Waddington, this Award “is a huge endorsement of our work, impact and proof of concept.” She added, “We are thrilled that the Stars Foundation have decided to endorse Ace Africa’s work in Tanzania […] We feel very proud of this achievement after just six years of implementing our programme in Tanzania.”

Ace Africa Tanzania’s Community Health & Wellbeing programme focuses on improving the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), orphans and vulnerable children as well as the wider community. Their work includes Child to Child Health Clubs, VCT, advocacy days focused on HIV/ AIDS, sexual health, child rights and more, linking PLWHA to health facilities to access ART, provision of mosquito nets, medication and nutritional supplements.

“The Ace club in our school has helped me to know my rights, claiming for my rights and tell others, including my parents about child rights.” – Grace, Katanini Primary School, Moshi District
“The clubs help us to explain to other children not to get pregnant. It encourages them to go to school and to get an education. I want all children to have the same opportunities that I now have.” – Juliet, Olmringiringa Village, Kimnyaki Ward, Rural Arusha Region
“I have managed to transmit the education I get from our Club to home. Currently at my home we have established a leaky tin system for hand washing after using the toilet. Before we did not know the importance of this and were suffering a lot from diarrhoea. I also made a dish rack after washing plates that improves our hygiene.” – Naishiru, Student in Ace Child to Child Club, Engorika Primary School
“Prior to receiving health education and hygiene sanitary materials from Ace Africa, many girls used clothes, rugs and other unhygienic materials and often stayed at home missing at least five school days a month. Now we have the knowledge and are using hygiene material and not missing school days as before.” – Anna, Elkereni CtC school, Kisongo

Ace will use some of the funding to scale up the existing programme, deliver teacher training on Child to Child and establish community-based child rights committees. They also intend to start a new initiative, piloting local, ‘one-stop shop’ health facilities. We wish them luck and will be closely following their future achievements.