Grandmothers grow children, communities around the globe

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

welliott@kentvilleadvertiser.ca

NovaNewsNow.com

A group of women in rural Quebec sparked a national movement when they took on the AIDS pandemic in Africa, supporting grandmothers and orphans in Africa.

The Great Granny Revolution is an uplifting story of the bonds of friendship between women and the power of individuals to make a difference. The Wakefield Grannies, 12 Canadian women, offer moral and financial support to a group of Gogos (grandmothers) raising AIDS-orphaned grandchildren in South Africa's Alexandra Township.

With his partner Brenda, a founding member of the Wakefield Grannies, filmmaker Robert Rooney documents the group's growth as they inspire their community and others.

When both groups attended the Stephen Lewis Foundation's 2006 Grandmother Gathering in Toronto, they found themselves at the heart of an exciting new movement. In Africa, the AIDS pandemic continues to rage; where governments have failed to respond, grandmothers are now acting.

On a visit to Quebec in 2004, Rose Letwaba spoke about her work to a small audience in the Wakefield United Church. A nurse in the health clinic in Alexandra Township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, the picture she painted was of a whole generation of South Africans lost to AIDS and grieving women left to raise their grandchildren healthy, educated and socially responsible. Rose described a group of 40 such grannies that were meeting at her clinic for sewing classes, gardening and moral support.

Two years ago the Stephen Lewis Foundation announced its Grandmother to Grandmother Campaign and, at last count, there were 30 groups operating in Canada and the United States.

It may seem raising money is the most important aspect of the groups, but each woman also has an individual GoGo to whom she writes letters. “Morale is high in these groups and there’s a lot of hope - just the idea and the thought that there are Grannies on the other side of the world who care so much about them make these groups appreciate life,” Rose says.

Go local grannies!

Two screenings of a new film about the founding of Grandmothers to Grandmothers through the Stephen Lewis Foundation are planned for Wolfville April 12.

Brenda Rooney, along with two other grannies, came home March 18 after a highly successful trip to South Africa - guests of the city of Johannesburg - where they gave a workshop, presented several screenings of The Great Granny Revolution and visited the Gogos in Alexandra.

Rooney will be on hand for the 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. screenings at the Al Whittle Theatre, sponsored by the Annapolis Valley Grandmothers and Others. She will report on her trip to South Africa. Tickets are $15, or call Betsy Baillie at 542-7591.