Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon® in collaboration with the American Cancer Society, the George W. Bush Institute, HKS, Inc., Southern Methodist University (SMU), and T-MARC Tanzania has launched an architecture and design competition.

This is to find new ways of constructing “homes-away-from-home” communities for women cancer patients especially 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,” she added.

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.  

The international design competition is 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:

1. Frank Kanza, Architect and Engineer at The Abbott Fund Tanzania, United Republic of Tanzania

2. Cameron Sinclair, Founder of Small Works and Co-Founder of Architecture for Humanity, UK and Northern Ireland

3. Kristen Solt, Strategic Director, Global Stakeholder Engagement, American Cancer Society, USA

4. Jeff Stouffer, Executive Vice President, Health Group Director, HKS, Inc., USA

5. Y Tsai, Founder of Y Tsai Design Studio, Republic of South Africa

6. 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.