Nelson Grans to Grans propose a challenge to Nelson in celebration of World AIDS Day 2024 on Dec. 1.
Would you donate the cost of a $5 cup of coffee a month to make a difference? A little bit from many of us makes a very big difference. Monthly donations provide a stable source of funding and enable community-led organizations to plan sustainably for the future. Your small monthly gift can be made by credit card or by bank account withdrawal and can be set up by calling the Stephen Lewis Foundation office at 1-888-203-9990 ext. 0.
Twenty years ago, the AIDS epidemic was ravaging sub-Saharan Africa. The very survival of communities was under threat. When the HIV epidemic swept across the continent of Africa, it took the lives of nearly an entire generation – 35 million perished – which left their children alone and vulnerable. With little or no support, it was the grandmothers of Africa who stepped in to care for these children. In 2004, Stephen Lewis wrote, “The Foundation has no illusions: the pandemic is a force of mass destruction. But it’s a force that can be subdued by the strength of the human spirit.”
In 2006, Stephen Lewis addressed an audience of Canadian women and explained that in the midst of this global HIV and AIDS health disaster, it was the African grandmothers who courageously banded together to support each other and stepped forward to guide their grandchildren through their grief and toward a hopeful future.
“Africa is being upheld on the backs of the grandmothers and we must help them," he said.
He witnessed the grief and the stigma they experienced while raising their grandchildren. These strong women were also striving for equality, autonomy, and to have their human rights respected and protected.
Irene and Colin McIlwaine participated in Nelson's exchange program in the 1990s, worked in a hospital in Mutare, Zimbabwe and witnessed the ravages of HIV and AIDS first-hand. After listening to Lewis speak, Irene McIlwaine, Cynthia Quinn-Young and many women in towns and cities across Canada stood up in recognition and agreed we must help African grandmothers. It was then that women started grandmothers groups in their towns and cities across the country. This is a grandmothers movement powered by love.
This grandmothers movement amplifies the voices and expertise of grandmothers in Africa and shows the world that leadership by older women is critical in reclaiming hope and rebuilding resilience across communities. But 20 years later there is still an HIV and AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. More than a thousand young girls continue to contract HIV every week.
Canadian grandmother groups across the county, of which there are currently 150, raise funds for grandmother-led projects by grassroots partners in sub-Saharan Africa. We will not rest until they can rest. Eighteen years later, Canadian grandmothers have not wavered on this commitment.
