About the Campaign
The ‘Grandmothers to Grandmothers’ campaign seeks to raise awareness and mobilize support in Canada and beyond for Africa’s grandmothers.
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Visit the Grandmothers Campaign website to learn more about the campaign, share ideas and view group profiles! |
The unsung Heroes of Africa
Africa has become a continent of orphans — an estimated 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and the numbers are expected to reach 20 million in the next four years. In the midst of this devastation, grandmothers have emerged as the 'unsung heroes' of Africa. They bury their own children and then in their 50s, 60s and 70s begin to parent again, raising their grandchildren with little or no support. In some countries, 40-60% of orphans live in grandmother-headed households. These courageous and resilient women have no time to grieve. Their priority is the next generation: the infants, toddlers, and teenagers who are left behind. Although there is never enough for their burgeoning households, somehow these grandmothers attempt to feed, clothe and comfort their grandchildren.
Launching the campaign
Toward the end of 2005, Stephen Lewis and his daughter Ilana Landsberg-Lewis (Executive Director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation) began discussions about how to support grandmothers in Africa. During his travels in Africa, Stephen heard first-hand from grandmothers about the challenges they face in raising their orphaned grandchildren. At the same time, Ilana was reading countless proposals and recognized that grandmothers were increasingly fundamental to programmes working on AIDS at the grassroots. While SLF was already supporting women, orphans and people living with HIV and AIDS, it became clear that a fourth area had to be added to the mandate: support for grandmothers.
In March 2006, on the eve of International Women's Day, the Foundation launched the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, which was designed to raise awareness in Canada about the plight of Africa's grandmothers and to mobilize support. At the time of the campaign launch, there were six groups of Canadian grandmothers who had chosen to fundraise and send proceeds to SLF to help support their peers in Africa. By the time of the August Grandmothers' Gathering, 50 Canadian grandmothers' groups had formed. It can truly be said that the grandmothers have taken up the cause and have mobilized a movement that is now nearly 200 groups strong!
supporting africa's grandmothers
The Stephen Lewis Foundation funds grassroots organizations that assist grandmothers caring for AIDS orphans in 15 African countries. The Foundation provides grandmothers with much-needed assistance, including: food, educational fees, income-generating projects, counselling and social support, and coffins to allow for a dignified burial of their loved ones.