The South African Gogos and the Wakefield Grannies
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On Saturday, 8 March 2008, the ARP organised an event at the 3rd
Avenue Children's Library where the International Women's Rights
Project honoured grandmothers for International Women's Day.
The event, a tea party and screening of the film, "The Great Granny
Revolution" included the filmmakers and some of the Wakefield Grannies
who have travelled from Canada to meet their counterpart Gogos from
Alexandra.
This remarkable story goes back to 2004 when Rose Letwaba, a
psychiatric nurse from East Bank Clinic in Alexandra, spoke about her
work to a small audience in the Wakefield United Church in Quebec,
Canada. Working with children orphaned by HIV and AIDS at the East
Bank Clinic in Alexandra, Rose discovered that many of her patients
were being raised by their grandmothers. The picture she painted was
of a whole generation of South Africans lost to AIDS and grieving
mothers left to carry the burden of raising their grandchildren to be
healthy, educated and socially responsible adults. Rose described a
group of 40 such Grannies who were meeting at her clinic for sewing
classes, gardening and moral support.
The next day, Norma Geggie and 12 other Canadian grandmothers gathered
at Norma's house and formed a support group offering moral and
financial support to the Gogos of Alexandra. In less than a year the
Wakefield Grannies were joined by the Concordia Grannies of Rhode
Island and the Montreal Grannies. On March 7, 2006, the Stephen Lewis
Foundation announced its Grandmother to Grandmother Campaign and at
last count there were 30 groups with over 200 grannies, operating in
Canada and the United States. The project has become an international
movement.
Apart from fundraising events, each Canadian Granny has an Alexandra
Gogo to whom she writes letters. It may seem that raising money is the
most important aspect of their activities, but as Rose said in a
letter: “... 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..."
The event on Saturday was the culmination of a tour to South Africa
and Alexandra by some of the Grannies including Norma Geggie (now 83
years old) and one of the founder members, Brenda Rooney, of Rooney
Productions which has produced a documentary film "The Great Granny
Revolution".
For further information on this project, please go to:
http://www.thegrannies.org or
http://www.rooneyproductions.com
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