International Award

BADISA is a church-based NGO working in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape through its 150 programmes.

One of the BADISA children's homes, the Durbanville Children’s Home, recently was awarded the distinguished Ubuntu Voluntary Service Award as the best volunteer programme in Africa.

The judges said: “We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Ubuntu International Voluntary Service Award for 2009 is the Durbanville Children’s Home.

   This project is outstanding in the support, training and empowerment that it affords to volunteers and the way in which it recognizes the extent to which they have been able to improve the quality of life of the children in the children’s home.

   The programme also distinguished itself for encouraging the volunteers to introduce innovative and sustainable programmes, and for their integration with the administration, programmes and staff of the home.

   For these features it receives the Ubuntu Gold Award.”

The programme has been managed by Ms Yvonne Mathieson for the past 3 years.

The runners-up for the 2009 award were programmes in Ghana and Togo.