Grandmothers stride to turn the tide
June 1, 2010
BCLocalNews.com, by Arlene Jongbloets
Grannies in the South Cariboo will be lacing up their sneakers on June 5 to walk in support of grandmothers in Africa, and they’d appreciate some company.
The walk has been labeled ‘Stride to Turn the Tide on Aids in Africa.’ It is intended to generate awareness about the difficult role many African grandmothers play
in raising their
grandchildren who have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
It will also raise money for them through pledges that can be used to provide their grandchildren with life-altering education.
There are more than 200 similar groups of grannies across Canada who will be holding their own walks June 12-13, and living up to their statement, “We will not rest until they can rest.”
The local walk starts at 10:15 a.m. in the Safeway parking lot and will follow a course down Birch Avenue to the Save-On-Foods parking lot and into Exeter Valley.
Wendy Hamblin of Gold Rush Grannies, the local advocate group, says the course has the potential to be eight kilometres long, but people can choose to walk as far as is comfortable.
“It’s a lovely walk through the valley.”
Gold Rush Grannies formed in 2006, inspired by a book by Stephen Lewis, called Race Against Time, which describes the disconnection between what the international community promises and their actions in responding to the pandemic in Africa.
Hamblin read it on suggestion of another grandmother and then satisfied her interest further by attending a huge international conference in Toronto, called Grandmothers to Grandmothers Gathering.
That’s where she joined 200 grandmothers from across Canada in welcoming 100 grandmothers from Africa who had been brought halfway around the world on donated air miles.
Hamblin says that meeting with the African grannies gave her a much more personal appreciation for the depth of their struggle.
“There are many children to take care of, but they don’t have many of the civil rights that we enjoy like inheritance.”
While sharing a few miniature muffins with an African grandmother during a break, Hamblin says her eyes were opened wider to their plight.
“She picked up one of those tiny muffins and held it in her hand, staring forlornly at it. She said how sad she was that she could not share it with her grandchild. It really brought it home for me, what they face.”
People wanting to give pledges to the local grandmothers’ walk or join the walk can contact Hamblin at 250-791-0024.
All proceeds go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.