The Granny Bulletin is a regular email update on the SLF Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, intended to keep grandmother groups across Canada informed about, and connected to each other and the grandmothers and grassroots projects in Africa that are supported through their dedicated fundraising and awareness-raising efforts.
 
In this Granny Bulletin:

1. Welcome and Update
2. New Faces - New Roles!
3. Focus on an African Project
4. Shared Ideas
5. Ontario Regional Resource Group Meeting
6. End Quote - Words from Africa 

1.  Welcome and Update 

Welcome to the September Edition of the Granny Bulletin!  Summer is winding down and many grandmothers' groups are gearing up for events this Fall.   There is so much to talk about and even more to do!

This edition of the Granny Bulletin includes another description of a project funded by the SLF in sub-Saharan Africa; important news about the new structure of the Grandmothers Campaign - including a warm welcome to our newest staff member, Hannah Diamond; shared fundraising ideas from groups across the country; and an update on Scrabble events happening in twenty communities - including the unveiling of the prize for the community with the highest average score!
 
As you can see, we are now sending out each issue on (or near) the start of each month so that you can plan and prepare in advance.  A reminder to please send us items you'd like included at least two weeks in advance. As always, we are deeply thankful for your ongoing work to raise awareness, funds, and advocate for grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa and the orphans in their care.  You are truly living the maxim, "We will not rest until they can rest".
 
Warmest regards,
 
Ilana, Julie, Helen, Janis, Mary Anna and Hannah
 

2.  New Faces - New Roles!

As the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign has grown from 4 to 40 to 140 to now over 200 groups across Canada, the Campaign staff has also grown.  We are most delighted to announce that Hannah Diamond has agreed to join the Grandmothers Campaign Team as our Western Canadian Advisor!   Of course, Mary Anna Beer will continue to head up the work of the Speaker's Bureau for the whole country, but will more generally focus her work on Ontario and Eastern Canada. 
 
Hannah would like to take a moment to introduce herself:
 
Good afternoon,
 
When Stephen Lewis challenged Canadian grandmothers to respond to the needs of our African sisters, I was out of the country working as a writer for an environmental project in the Middle East. There, I met Bedouin women, the mainstay of their desert communities, who were not invited to express their opinions at consultation meetings that were being held to determine their futures. I tried to change that, and arrived home feeling frustrated to say the least. Shortly after, I was invited to join the Greater Van Gogos, a network of grandmothers groups in Vancouver's Lower Mainland.
 
My first real gesture of activism involved violating a highschool dress code during a particularly cold prairie winter in the early 1960s. It happened because a small group of girls couldn't get an acceptable answer to why we couldn't wear pants to school. The consequences to the protest were humiliating, but despite the embarrassment, I spent years being angry at myself for not fighting harder for equality. Over the years, I've tried to keep using that anger in my work and by volunteering in arts community, the environmental community, the women's movement and the political arena.
 
The Grandmothers' Campaign is a perfect place to channel anger about injustice, and at the same time make a tangible difference to women and children who through no fault of their own are living lives we can only imagine with horror. Doesn't every child deserve a family, a home, access to health care, education, food and clean water? The African grandmothers are living our worst nightmare. This campaign allows us to give them hope and help so that their grandchildren can have some of what ours have. Instead of feeling paralysed, which is a common North American response to so much that's wrong with the world, we can hear their voices and respond in a way that's working.
 
To say being involved in the Grandmothers Campaign is personally rewarding is too glib. If it weren't so, we would not have raised $4 million in two years. The Campaign would not draw women from all backgrounds who stand in solidarity with each other and with African grandmothers, and it would not be growing. Yet we are almost 10,000 across Canada, and heading into the US and the UK . Yes, it is definitely rewarding.
 
I was both flattered and terrified to be asked to join the SLF staff as an advisor to the grandmothers' campaign. I hesitated for several months before I realized that to say no would be to miss an opportunity for my own personal growth and to help advance our work together.
 
My educational background is varied. I started out work wanting to be a potter (the wheel sits idle in our basement and someday I'll get back to it) and switched to journalism in my 30s. My work background involves more than 40 years of technical writing, marketing, newspaper reporting and editing. I "retired" from a newspaper job seven years ago and have been running a small environmental consulting company with my partner of 34 years, Lee Harding.
 
Lee and I were slowly heading into real retirement, wanting to spend more time with our children, Andrew, his partner Kristy and our two grandchildren in the BC Kootenays, and with our daughter, Jill, in Toronto. We wanted to travel more and work less. So it was with some trepidation that I arrived at the SLF office at the end of August. It wasn't my first time there, but it was the first time I sat in on a staff meeting and observed normal work days. I can say honestly that I've never met more compassionate, creative, passionate and committed people than those who staff the SLF. More than that, however, they are able to experience joy in what is difficult and serious crisis-oriented work which they do with sensitivity and intelligence.
 
I'm proud to join Mary Anna Beer as an advisor to the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign and to be working closely with Julie Coultas and the rest of the grandmothers' campaign team. They have much to teach me. It's a part-time position designed to help Canadian grandmothers do what we do - raise awareness, raise money and advocate on behalf of grandmothers in Africa. I look forward to meeting many more of you, hearing your ideas and helping you in any way I can. Please e-mail me - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone me at 604-469-6795.
 
Warm regards,
Hannah
 

3.  Focus on an African Project 

Botswana Retired Nurses Association ( BORNUS)

BORNUS is an organization founded in 2003 by seventy-five retired nurses who came together in response to the pandemic in Botswana, in order to provide comprehensive quality health care and support to persons living with HIV and AIDS, their families and caregivers, including orphans, vulnerable children, of course - grandmothers.  The grassroots support offered through BORNUS includes an Adult Day Centre that caters to chronically sick adults, most of whom are HIV positive, through community meals, games, peer-support and skills development such as gardening classes.  In addition to a home-based care programme, BORNUS also provides a pick-up and drop-off service for those who cannot make it on their own - which helps otherwise house-bound adults participate fully in community life.  Although BORNUS does not directly "target" grandmothers in their service delivery, grandmothers of course comprise many of their founders and caregivers.
 
In order to give grandmothers and other caregivers a break from childcare and to prepare young children for entry into primary school, BORNUS also operates a Day Care Centre that serves approximately 20 children at one time.  The children are fed breakfast and lunch, and participate in singing, arts and free-play - essential activities to allow them to forget, just for a few moments, their grief and to just be children. 
 
Like the majority of the grassroots organizations funded through the Stephen Lewis Foundation, BORNUS makes tremendously effective use of small sums of money.  For example, they provide Life Skills Training for the adults who access the Adult Day Centre for only $1450 CDN per year; provide food supplements to the orphans and vulnerable children in the Day Care Centre for only $1160 CDN per year; employ a part-time Day Care Teacher for only $3875 CDN per year; and a full-time Social Worker for only $7750 CDN per year.  The need of course, is greater than any one organization can meet, however BORNUS is one of hundreds of community-based organizations working hard to turn the tide against the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
 

4.  Shared Ideas 

A) Quinte Grannies Calendar 

As many of you may have already read in our Summer 2008 issue of Grassroots, the Quinte Grannies for Africa of Belleville ON have created a 'calendar girls' fundraising calendar for 2009.  Each month features a beautiful black and white photo of one of the grannies proudly wearing nothing but her Kazuri jewellery and a few strategically-placed items. The calendars are available for $20 each and all of the proceeds go to the Grandmothers Campaign. Our very own Stephen Lewis is also featured in the calendar but he's fully clothed. The calendar also includes inspiring and informative quotes. The Quinte Grannies urge as many groups as possible across the country to sell the calendars as a fundraiser for their groups.  Visit www.quintegrannies.ca for information on how to order the calendars, call 613-398-7219 or send an email to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
Update: Read a great article about the Quinte Calendar Girls

B) BWOB

The Beds Without Breakfast programme is gradually adding more homes, so please check out the website if you are interested in staying with other grannies when you travel and remember to tell your friends as some homes accept non-grannies. Guests make a donation to SLF and the hosts are eligible for a tax receipt for the donated amount. If you have trouble accessing the site from the link, please simply type the address in your browser www.bedswithoutbreakfast.org and note that the site is NOT password protected. If you wish to add your home please use the Contact Us link on the site. General questions may be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

C) T shirts

Hundreds of grannies across Canada now own shirts with the Campaign logo and Gathering Grannies (Durham Region) put in a new order every few months. Thanks to everyone who has supported this fundraiser for SLF. The next deadline for ordering is October 10. As before, the shirts are black, cost $15 plus p and p (for those who will not be attending the regional meeting in Hamilton on Oct. 25) and can be ordered from This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

D) Nyanyas of Niagara's 'I Love You, Granny' Book 

Since Nyanyas of Niagara was formed in the Fall of 2007, we, like you, have committed to raising money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. Our second major fundraiser is this book; I Love You, Granny - a heartwarming, practical and humorous handbook for "new" grandmothers. It reflects the wisdom and wonder of our grandchildren and their grandmothers, like you.
I Love You, Granny written by Grandmother Betty Locke, speaks to all grandparents caught between traditional values and the broad social changes being experienced by their children and grandchildren.
 
Your Grandmother's Group can purchase I Love You, Granny for $9.00, which you will then sell for $14.95.  Each sale will net your group $5.95.
 
Orders for 100+ books can be purchased for $8.00 per book. Shipping and Handling will be extra.
 
 "I Love You, Granny is entertaining, informative and inspirational. We loved it!"
— Granny Carol and Poppa Doug
 
To order, contact:
Vanwell Publishing Limited
PO Box 2131, 1 Northrup Crescent,
St. Catharines , Ontario L2R 7S2
Toll Free: 1-800-661-6136
Fax: (905)937-1760
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
For General Book Inquiries:
Please contact (905) 468-2438 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

E) Glacier Grannies' 'Planting Seeds of Hope: Textile Art from the Heart'

The Glacier Grannies in Comox Valley, Vancouver Island, proudly present 'Planting Seeds of Hope: Textile Art from the Heart', a coffee table book produced by the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness to raise money for the Grandmothers Campaign. Stories of grandmothers in Africa raising their orphaned grandchildren captured the quilters' hearts and imaginations, and in response they created 40 beautiful pieces of art that respond to the question "Who Will..?" when a whole generation has been lost to AIDS. The art, with accompanying stories, are beautifully gripping, presented in an African motif soft cover book.
 
The Merville Grand Mothers invite you to look at their new website. You can view the fabric art exhibit, "Who Will Plant the Seeds of Hope?" in photos of the individual pieces and find out where the show will be going in the next two months. Tell your friends on Vancouver Island , BC that they can attend the shows in Parksville, Nanaimo, Campbell River and back again in Courtenay. The exhibit wraps up with a Gala evening, dinner & auction on October 18th at the Westerly Hotel in Courtenay. Advance bids for the individual art pieces will be accepted until October 10 deadline.

Go to www.tidechange.ca  and scroll down to Community Groups.   Click on Merville Grand Mothers. Scroll down to view the fabric art pieces. They are arranged alphabetically starting with the word after "Who will. " 
The textile art was recently on display at the Comox Valley Art Gallery , hosted by the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness and the Merville Grand Mothers (MGMs).  Stephen Lewis visited the display on June 27th and left the following comments in the guest book: "This is the most thrilling and accomplished artistic undertaking in the history of the Foundation.  Thank You."  The individual art pieces will be auctioned off in October by the MGMs, with proceeds going to the Grandmothers Campaign. 

Glacier Grannies and North Island Quilters are happy to make this book available to granny groups as a fundraising initiative. Shipping plus the print cost of the book is around $15.00/ book; however both costs vary depending on distance and size of the print run. The $15.00 price is based on a print run of 200 books. Possibly a few groups in your area could order together to make up 200 copies.  The Glacier Grannies are selling their copies for $30.00.  Forqueries and orders, please contact Merrilee Cameron at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
 

5.   Ontario Regional Resource Group Meeting

Ontario groups and grandmothers should mark October 25th as the date of the next Ontario Regional Gathering. Organized by Ontario Regional Resource Group (ORRG) and co-hosted by the wonderful Hamilton Grandmothers of Steel, the gathering will include a full day of workshops, learning, networking and sharing stories. Special featured guest speaker: Michele Landsberg - wife of Stephen Lewis, mother of Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, grandmother to Zev and Yoav and a distinguished and award-winning journalist, writer and activist in her own right. 
 
For more information about the gathering or to learn about the work of the Ontario Regional Group contact Mary Partridge at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  or watch the Grandmothers Campaign Website Regional Groups page for more details to come. 
 

6.   End Quote - Words from Africa

"The poor are not powerful enough to be heard. The grandmothers, for instance, are a very good example of people who are trying hard to look after orphans but do not have the power and resources to be heard." — Winstone Zulu, activist with Kara Counseling Trust, Zambia