Pictures and stories of an African experience

Wilma Kenny | Oct 18, 2017

When Carol Little of Sydenham learned of a trip for Canadian Grandmothers to visit Zambia and South Africa, she knew at once that she had to go, to personally meet some of the women she has been connected with over the past several years, through pictures and letters and stories. Her own children and husband were unquestioning in their support, with the result that a year ago this summer Carol headed off alone to Britain, where she met three more women, identified by the matching scarves they wore. Many hours later, these four landed in Zambia and joined six others for some sleep and cultural orientation before embarking with driver and interpreter over some of the roughest roads she’d ever travelled.

“It was an intense, life-changing experience,” Carol says, “the awful living conditions, the optimism, laughter and strong determination, the dancing. They dance to express joy, sorrow, happiness and grief. I learned and saw so much.”

Ten years ago, a group of women in Sharbot Lake began a group they called “Grandmothers by the Lake” to support the Stephan Lewis Foundation in Africa. It has grown to include women from throughout South, Central and North Frontenac. Many, if not most of these women are grandmothers themselves, and they wanted to reach out to some of the many grandmothers in Africa who are struggling to raise their orphaned grandchildren.

African grandmothers are central to the life of their communities. With almost no support, they have stepped forward to care for millions of children orphaned by AIDS, sometimes as many as ten to fifteen in one household.

Resources from the Canadian Grandmothers Campaign are invested directly at community level, with grassroots organizations that provide grandmothers and the children in their care with supports that include food, educational supplies, uniforms and school fees, medical care, HIV counselling and testing, adequate housing and bedding, counselling and support groups, home visits, and much more.

Carol will be presenting a slide show and talk about her trip and experiences on Thursday, October 26, at 7:00 pm in the Community Room of Sydenham Library. Everyone is welcome.