The granny revolution.

"From one side of the globe we are African grandmothers from Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique; from Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa and Swaziland; from Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, raising the children of our beloved late sons and daughters ... we are grateful for the chance we have been given--at long last--to make our voices heard .... From another side of the globe, we are Canadian grandmothers, arriving at the end of our gathering enlightened, resolved, humbled and united with our African sisters."

--Declaration of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign, Toronto, August 2006

Approximately 13 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have been orphaned by Aids, and according to UNAIDS that number is predicted to reach 18 million by 2010. It is often Africa's grandmothers who shoulder the burden of caring for the next generation. While they support growing numbers of children on ever shrinking incomes, they face discrimination from the stigma surrounding HIV and Aids and they struggle with their own chronic illnesses. Yet, these women refuse to be victimised. Instead, African grandmothers are the unsung heroes holding their families and communities together.

The Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign was launched by the Stephen Lewis Foundation on 7 March 2006, on the eve of International Women's Day. Inspired by the successes of a pairing of South African grandmothers in Alexandra (a Johannesburg township) and a group of Canadian grandmothers from Wakefield (a small community in Ottawa), Grandmothers to grandmothers brings together African and Canadian Grandmothers in the fight against HIV and Aids. Today there are nearly 100 grandmothers' groups across Canada.

The campaign aims to encourage awareness in Canada about Africa's grandmothers. It also actively supports community projects that directly impact the lives of grandmothers supporting Aids orphans. In Cape Town, for example, the campaign supports Grandmothers against Poverty and AIDS, an organisation that offers grandmothers emotional support and counseling, educational workshops, handicraft training, income generation opportunities and financial assistance for orphans' schooling. In Zimbabwe, the campaign supports the Chiedza Child Care Centre. The centre strengthens the ability of grandmothers to cope with children in difficult circumstances, provides them with direct psychosocial support, and trains them in how to deal with bereavement. The centre also helps them to develop a community-based model of orphan care and provides the children with meals, school fees and medical assistance.

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In August 2006, the women from Africa and Canada came together in Toronto for a three-day grandmothers' gathering entitled, "Easing the Pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa". The gathering preceded the Toronto AIDS Conference and provided a true platform for women at the heart of the pandemic, African women. Workshop topics ranged from building resilience in children to the role of global economics in the AIDS crisis. Throughout the workshops, the voices, opinions and stories of the African grandmothers took centre stage. The conference even offered therapeutic massage and grief counseling, an indication of Grandmothers to Grandmother's commitment to healing and support.

Together the grandmothers drafted a resolution to be read at the 16th International AIDS Conference. They expressed their commitment to each other and the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic, the African grandmothers articulating their needs and the Canadian grandmothers pledging their continued support. "Through our new discovery--grandmother to grandmother solidarity--we carried ourselves and one another through the grief to where we are this morning. May this be the dawn of the grandmothers' movement."