Gogo Naday Thandika
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
At the Shadbolt Centre on November 4, 260 people welcomed 19 year old Thandeka Motsa and 56 year old Tsabile Simelane from Swaziland. In an evening entitled “Entertaining Hope’, the audience heard their personal stories and were entertained by various local artists.
The “AfriGran Caravan”, an initiative of the Stephen Lewis foundation and the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign made stops in 40 communities across Canada since August 2010. In each of the host communities people gathered to hear the stories of these courageous women whose hearts and hands are responsible for turning the tide of HIV and AIDS in Africa.
The Canadian Grandmothers campaign has raised $10 million since its beginning in August 2006. In 15 African countries, projects, funded by the Grandmothers campaign are helping children stay in school, grandmothers to be self-sufficient, families to gain access to nutrition, health care and counselling. The need is still urgent if the orphans of Africa are to lead the continent out of the AIDS pandemic.
The G-8 countries are pulling back from their financial commitments to Africa. The Global Fund for AIDS is stretched beyond belief. The philanthropic giants, like the Gates and Clinton Foundations, are flat lining their funding. And, all the while, the small, effective, courageous grassroots organizations which the Grandmothers campaign supports, are ready – more than ready – to sustain and scale up their work. That’s where we come in.
Canadian communities are continuing their support with the Dare to Remember Campaign, which is on-going now and culminates on December 1, World Aids Day.
We simply have to try, by every means possible, to raise the funds they need for the grandmothers, for the children in their care, for their families, for their communities. So please, go to our Dare to Remember fundraising pages online http://www.adaretoremember.com/fundraising_tools.cfm.
TheAfroNews
