Grand idea going strong

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Jean Altemeyer (from left), Enid Butler and Jean Sorko of Grands 'n' More raise money to help grandmothers in Africa who are raising orphaned children. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ) Photo Store

No parent should have to bury their child, but this natural order doesn't always hold true. Many parents and grandparents here do bury their children, often due to illnesses or accidents.

But in many parts of Africa the HIV/AIDS pandemic has made this commonplace.

In these areas, almost an entire generation has been wiped out, with both husbands and wives succumbing to the disease and leaving behind their orphaned children.

In most cases, it is the grandmothers who have stepped back into the parenting role, taking in their orphaned grandchildren and raising them.

It's a challenging role and it's one that a grandmother here can empathize with.

It also helps explain why several dozen grandmothers in Winnipeg have joined together to do something to help.

Grands 'n' More Winnipeg was founded in 2007, to help support the Stephen Lewis Foundation's work in Africa in the wake of the AIDS pandemic.

It's one of more than 240 groups across the country that are affiliated with the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign of the SLF.

Enid Butler founded the organization after going to a meeting of Canadian and African grandmothers in Toronto organized by the SLF in 2006.

"It was an opportunity to meet the amazing African grandmothers who were caring for the millions of orphans affected by HIV AIDS," Butler said.

"This was a fantastic event and it really challenged all of the Canadian grandmothers there to think about ways they could support the African grandmothers.

"I came home with the real desire to support them."

Rounding up a few of her friends, Grands 'n' More was born. Five years later it now has about 150 members.

Nancy Cosway, co-chairwoman of Grands 'n' More, came to the organization in 2009 after spending more than 30 years travelling in Africa and working on water and sewage projects. She is now an independent consultant.

"When I came back, I had been in Ghana for eight years and I wanted to keep connected with Africa," Cosway said.

"I found Grands 'n' More and its connection with HIV and AIDS. I had visited a Stephen Lewis Foundation supported project in Malawi and I was quite impressed. In that project they spend a lot of time on psychosocial support. They're trying to get the child to remember their parent and heal through the process.

"The plight of the grandmothers is difficult. They are old and many don't have many skills."

Cosway said she has six grandchildren who visit with her.

"I'm exhausted afterwards -- I don't know how (the African grandmothers) do it over there. You don't have the same energy as you get older."

Jean Altemeyer, the other co-chairwoman of Grands 'n' More, said she joined after going to a meeting at a friend's house.

"Another friend was knitting scarves for them, but her arthritis got to the point she couldn't knit anymore," Altemeyer said.

"I can knit so I just thought it was something I could spend some time doing."

But Altemeyer said as she learned more about the issue she decided to become even more involved.

"One of our challenges is people say -- with issues we have locally -- why do you do everything for Africa?" she said.

"I thought about it and now when we make the scarves we sell them with the money going to help African grandmothers, but the people who pay for them don't get them, they go to new immigrants in the city at Welcome Place so they don't get cold."

Altemeyer said the organization has given out more than 450 scarves since it began.

She said other major fundraisers done by the grandmothers include holding potluck suppers, where participants bring a dish and a $10 donation, having a Scrabble tournament, which raised $16,000 in four hours, and the sewing of tote bags.

This past June, it raised almost $3,000 during its third annual Stride to Turn the Tide walk at Central Park.

Ilana Lansberg-Lewis, the SLF's executive director and Lewis's daughter, said all of the work the Winnipeg grandmothers do -- along with others across the nation -- is much appreciated.

"The foundation's annual revenue is between $9 million and $11 million and the grandmothers raise $2 million per year so it is significant," she said.

Lansberg-Lewis said she put out the call to Canadian grandmothers after being told by organizations in Africa that "overwhelmingly the grandmothers are looking after the orphaned children.

"A whole generation of young mothers had been wiped out and hundreds of thousands of their children were being raised by grandmothers. I knew that with grandmothers there's a visceral understanding of what it means to look after their grandchildren.

"I also knew if grandmothers knew here what was happening they would help. But I never thought it would grow like this."

And the grandmothers will continue their work.

"Last year we were able to give $50,000 to the Stephen Lewis Foundation," Altemeyer said proudly.

"We are very cheap and we try not to spend money on anything. The money needs to go to the grandmothers, not to our expenses."

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

How to help

TO make a tax deductible donation, go to www.stephenlewisfoundation.org, which features a large 'to donate' button and a way to designate the donation to the Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers campaign. Donations of $20 or more get a tax receipt.

To support the group locally, people can hold a bag party, invite us to come speak, become a member, attend a potluck (next one is Sept. 15 at St. Andrew's Anglican Church, 2700 Portage Ave.), or make and/or buy a scarf). You can reach the group by email to grandsnmore@gmail.com .

To learn more about the group: go to www.grandsnmore.com or visit the African Pavilion inside Holy Cross Gymnasium during Folklorama from Aug. 12 to 18, where the group is hosting an awareness table. The pavilion is at 290 Dubuc St.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 28, 2012 A29