On November 13th at Riverside United Church in Ottawa, the Wakefield Grannies and GRAN (Grandmothers’ Advocacy Network) staged an event to highlight the very special visit of two African colleagues, Diana Teffo and Phindile Dladla. These two women run projects in sub-Saharan Africa supporting grandmothers and their orphaned grandchildren in their struggles to overcome poverty and the spectre of HIV/AIDS. Diana Teffo offered an urban perspective on the grandmothers in Africa. She heads up the Alex AIDS Orphan Project at the clinic where the Wakefield Grannies’ original Gogo (grandmother) group started in Johannesburg. Phindile Dladla works as a caregiver in an old people’s facility in order to support herself, but volunteers in her rural community as an organizer of a group of 20 impoverished Gogos. Together with her mother and sister, with whom she lives, Phindile offers sanctuary to Gogos being abused, provides space for a garden they share, and a space for them to do bead work. Joining Diana and Phindile for the evening’s event was the students’ choir from Hillcrest High School (under the direction of Jeannie Hunter), drummers and storytellers. Both the Wakefield Grannies – sponsors of these two women’s projects – and GRAN, a national group of ‘grandmothers and grand others’ devoted to advocating for their sister African Gogos in the Canadian political sphere, are delighted that their efforts have had the success they have had. For more information, please contact Melanie Willis 613.699.3745 or [email protected]
Photo credit: Melanie Willis
