Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Joins Partners on World Health Day to Launch Hostel-Building Competition
Seeking Designs for “Homes-Away-from-Home” For Women with Cancer in Tanzania
Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon®, along with the American Cancer Society, the George W. Bush Institute, HKS, Inc., Southern Methodist University (SMU), and T-MARC Tanzania, today launched Hostels for Hope, an international architecture and design competition to find new ways of constructing “homes-away-from-home” communities for women cancer patients in Tanzania.
Tanzania has some of the highest rates of cervical and breast cancer in the world, yet currently only one hospital in the country of 49 million has specialized services to treat them. Women who travel long distances to receive care but lack the funds to pay for long-term lodging, or those who do not have family or friends near the hospital with whom they can stay during treatment, face the prospect of having to camp in the facility’s hallways or even outside. As a result, many women choose to stay home and die rather than seek cancer treatment.
“No woman should be prevented from accessing life-saving cancer treatment simply because she does not have a place to stay,” said Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon Chief Executive Officer Celina Schocken. “This design competition continues Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon’s innovative work with partners to lead coordinated action to save women’s lives from cancer, by removing barriers to care.”
The Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI), based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, treats close to 10,000 women each year for cervical and breast cancer, 60 percent of whom live faraway. A second cancer hospital is scheduled to open in 2016 at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) in Mwanza, the nation’s second-largest city, on the shores of Lake Victoria.
Today’s announcement launches an international design competition to find creative methods, fresh thinking, sustainable materials, and resourceful ingenuity to construct two wellness hostels, one on the grounds of ORCI, and the other on the grounds of BMC. Since traditional construction methods are financially prohibitive, the competition seeks inventive, aesthetically pleasing, and cost-effective alternatives.
“We know innovative people have solved similar challenges in the developing world by using modular units, pre-fabricated structures, local materials, and ecologically sustainable approaches,” said Schocken. “We are eager to see such creativity reflected in design concepts submitted for these wellness hostels, so that together, we can save lives. This is an opportunity for architects, engineers, designers, health workers, and students to improve the quality of care provided to women in Tanzania.”
The competition is aimed at both students and professionals, and participants may compete in teams or as individuals. Design submissions may be for one or both of the hostels, or concepts may be for a prototype adaptable to either location.
A panel of international jurors, from the fields of medicine and architecture, will judge the submissions. They include:
- Frank Kanza, Architect and Engineer at The Abbott Fund Tanzania, United Republic of Tanzania
- Cameron Sinclair, Founder of Small Works and Co-Founder of Architecture for Humanity, UK and Northern Ireland
- Kristen Solt, Strategic Director, Global Stakeholder Engagement, American Cancer Society, USA
- Jeff Stouffer, Executive Vice President, Health Group Director, HKS, Inc., USA
- Y Tsai, Founder of Y Tsai Design Studio, Republic of South Africa
- Dr. Beatrice Wiafe-Addai, President of Breast Care International and Founder of the Peace and Love Hospitals in Accra and Kumasi, Republic of Ghana
Winners will be awarded cash prizes, along with a chance to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new hostels if the chosen design is built. Specific guidelines and more information about the competition can be found at: http://pinkribbonredribbon.org/competition/general-guidelines/.
About Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon
Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon®, an independent affiliate of the George W. Bush Institute, leads coordinated action to save women and girls’ lives from cancer in countries where the need is greatest. Launched in September 2011, the partnership’s other founders are the U.S. Government through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Susan G. Komen® and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Dedicated to providing services for the prevention and treatment of cervical and breast cancer, Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon also includes corporate and foundation members – Becton, Dickinson and Company; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation; the Caris Foundation; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck; and QIAGEN – and collaborating partners, such as the American Cancer Society, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, LiveStrong Foundation, and GE Healthcare. With the engagement of national governments, non-governmental and multilateral organizations, and key local leadership, the partnership results in country-owned, sustainable programs that allow women and girls to access the care they need to have the opportunity to thrive.
To learn more, visit: http://pinkribbonredribbon.org/.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a U.S.-led, global, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. Together with millions of supporters, the American Cancer Society is working to free the world from the pain and suffering of cancer.
Outside of the United States, our focus is on countries with the most need where we can achieve measurable results. The Society supports local cancer organizations, hospitals, and governments in their efforts to improve cancer literacy and awareness around risk factors through increased access to high-quality information. We work to improve treatment outcomes in lower- and middle-income countries by expanding access to high-quality chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and pain relief, and getting patients diagnosed and into treatment earlier.
With more than 100 years of experience behind us, the Society’s takes the lessons we’ve learned and works to enhance the capacity of cancer organizations in lower- and middle-income countries to lead the fight against cancer.
To learn more, visit www.cancer.org.
About the George W. Bush Institute
Housed within the George W. Bush Presidential Center, the George W. Bush Institute is an action-oriented, non-partisan policy organization with the mission of cultivating leaders, fostering policies to solve today’s most pressing challenges, and taking action to save and change lives. The work of the Bush Institute is inspired by the principles that guided the Bushes in public life: education is the foundation of a successful life, freedom is a universal human desire, free enterprise is the engine of economic prosperity, and every human life is precious.
To learn more, visit www.bushcenter.org.
About HKS, Inc.
To those wanting to make an impact with design, HKS is the architect where focused people consistently deliver the extraordinary.
We are passionate, knowing that people live, work, play and inhabit the spaces and places we imagine and envision for our clients. We are responsive, understanding that we are in a service business and the vision is that of our clients – never of ours alone. We are global, creating exceptional spaces across the globe through our connected network of offices and people. We are one, with tremendous talent across a wide spectrum of expertise, believing that the value of talent, experience and knowledge is multiplied when shared. We are thorough, balancing extraordinary design with technical expertise and construction-administration backgrounds for streamlined, on-time, within-budget projects.
We are HKS. We create places that enhance the human experience. Each and every day.
To learn more, visit www.hksinc.com.
About SMU
SMU, a nationally ranked private university with seven degree-granting schools, is a distinguished center for teaching and research located near the heart of Dallas, Texas. SMU’s 11,000 students benefit from small classes, leadership opportunities, international study and innovative programs.
The SMU Center for Global Health Impact seeks to improve and save lives in global health by educating new and established leaders in global health, incubating innovative ideas that may be scaled, and activating professional and general communities for sustainable impact. The Center works to enhance health through innovative and entrepreneurial approaches in research, service-delivery, and education to provide effective, desirable and affordable health solutions to those who most need them.
To learn more, visit www.smu.edu.
About T-MARC Tanzania
Committed to serving the health needs of Tanzania’s underserved and most vulnerable populations, T-MARC Tanzania is a fully independent and locally managed non-governmental organization (NGO) specializing in social marketing and behavior change communication. Proud of its status as one of Tanzania’s largest NGOs, governed and managed solely by Tanzanians, T-MARC Tanzania employs bold and dynamic approaches to expanding access to health products as well as informing and changing health behaviors. T-MARC Tanzania works on a wide range of health-related issues, including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health and family planning, cervical cancer, malaria, nutrition, water and sanitation, gender-based violence, menstrual hygiene and girls’ empowerment.
To learn more, visit: http://www.tmarc.or.tz/.
