Background Materials
As HIV/AIDS ravages families and communities in Africa, grandmothers have emerged as the continent's unrecognized heroes. Surrounded by poverty, hunger and desolation, they care for children orphaned by AIDS, sometimes as many as ten to fifteen in one household.
These incredibly strong and courageous women bury their own children and become parents again, calling on astonishing reserves of love and emotional resilience. But they do so with almost no support.
Background materials
Click on the links below to read more information about the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign and the situation of grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa:
- Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign Fact Sheet
- One in Fourteen People Living with HIV are Over 50, Says HelpAge International (press release)
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Article on the Impact of HIV/AIDS on older people (Humanitarian Exchange, Issue 33)
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Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS (GAPA): A Model of Support
- A Study to Determine the Effectiveness of GAPA in Fighting the Effects of AIDS in Grandmother-Headed Households (by Kathleen Broderick and Mandisa Mafuya)