South African Gogos visit Canada
Chana Thau
This month I had the privilege of meeting Princess Mkhize and Cwengi Myeni, two Gogos (Zulu for grandmothers), who are nurses at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre in South Africa. These warm, dedica ted women were on their way to a meeting of Grandmothers’ groups in BC, sponsored by the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
They stopped in Winnipeg to visit their ‘son,’ Ilan Schwartz (a Winnipeg medical student who has volunteered at their Centre), his ‘Little Travellers’ Volunteer Group and GOGO Action Winnipeg, a local Grandmothers’ group. Schwartz is the creator of ‘Little Travellers,’ a unique fundraising project created two years ago that has raised $115,000 for HIV/AIDS relief in South Africa.
Thanks to the “Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign” launched by the Stephen Lewis Foundation in March 2006, Grandmothers’ groups in Canada and beyond number more than 160 and have raised over one million dollars, which the Stephen Lewis Foundation directs to community level organizations running over 100 projects in 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Grandmothers’ groups raise awareness, build solidarity and mobilize support to help thousands of African grandmothers, many of whom are also HIV infected, raise children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Carrying the burden of feeding and educating their grandchildren, the grandmothers often experience a second wave of loss as HIV claims their grandchildren.
The 200 grannies visited Toronto last summer for the Grandmothers’ Gathering, held on the eve of the 16th International AIDS conference. According to the Stephen Lewis Foundation ’s publication, “Grassroots,” the gathering concluded with a call to action, “May this be the dawn of the grandmothers’ movement!” and Canadians responded, “We are dedicated to finding ways to make it clear that African grandmothers hold a place in our hearts and in our thoughts, not just today, but each day [ …] We will not rest until they can rest.”
GOGO Action Winnipeg, founded in 2006, and ‘Little Travellers,’ co-sponsored a fundraising tea on October 16 to benefit the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust in South Africa. The Centre, a non-governmental, non-profit organization is situated in the Valley of a Thousand Hills in KwaZulu-Natal Province, where HIV infection among the population is over 40%, one of the highest rates in the world. In South Africa as a whole, over 5 million people live with HIV – more than in any other nation.
The small school auditorium in Winnipeg was packed with supporters and interested folk, who gave generously and crowded round to speak to the Grannies after the formal part of the evening. Sheena Crobb, a young singer-composer, dedicated the song she had written about AIDS to the two Gogos. Her song moved everyone to tears.
All day Princess Mkhize, who is very shy, maintained she would not speak. Yet, when prevailed upon to address the audience, she proved to be a born storyteller. As Schwartz said, “she had the crowd in the palm of her hand, playing with anecdotes, humour, timing and cadence. ” Trembling after speaking, she hugged Schwartz and said she didn’t know what had happened. “I just let God speak through me,” she explained.
The ‘Little Travellers’ are beaded doll pins made by women at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre. They are sold for $5 by volunteers at craft fairs and other events and by many Winnipeg retailers. Funds go first to the crafters, most of whom are grandmothers infected or affected by AIDS, and then to the Centre ’s home-based care and respite programs. The dolls have travelled to Vancouver, Kingston and Toronto, even to Scotland.
For info on the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign or to donate: 416-533-9292 or www.stephenlewisfoundation.org. To buy ‘Little Travellers’ dolls visit: www.littletravellers.net. If you want to sell them, write to: Ilan Schwartz, 226 Oxford St., Winnipeg, MB, R3M 3S6.
Chana Thau is a Winnipeg writer.
