10 Questions
Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers Regina by Gail Jansen-Kesslar Not yet a grandmother herself when she became one of the founding members of the Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers group in Regina back in 2006, Sheila Fahlman knew only that it was an important cause that was near and dear to her heart.
1
What is Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers Regina?
We’re a group of Regina and area grandmothers and others who are dedicated to alleviating the plight of grandmothers in Africa as they care for children orphaned by the AIDS pandemic. We’re part of a nation-wide movement that has been inspired by and supports the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s (SLF) Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.
2
How did Grandmothers 4 Grandmothers Regina begin?
I first heard of the organization in the summer of 2006 when an International AIDS conference was held in Toronto. The Stephen Lewis Foundation, which by then had been going for about three years, held a “Grandmothers Gathering” there where they brought some African Grandmothers over and invited Canadian women, both members of existing Grandmother groups and other interested women to come to that event. CBC did extensive coverage of the Gathering, not just on the news, but also through some of their other news type programming, and it just seemed that every time I turned on the TV they were talking about these Grandmothers.
I had a lot of interest in seeing about getting that going in Regina and one day in August I had half a dozen of us here in my house for tea and we talked about whether we thought we would like to or even if we could start a brand new organization and we did. We held our inaugural public meeting in Sept of that year 2006 and had some 18-20 people come, and we were on our way. Today we have over 100 very active members and we hold some significant events and raise quite a bit of money in this community the proceeds of which go to the Stephen Lewis foundation.
3
What motivated you to get involved in the first place?
4
Are you a Grandmother yourself?
I’d been involved in community for many years and I was looking for something different to become involved in. I knew that I was interested in issues for women and children, and I was also very interested in Africa. As it happens I was born in Kenya, and lived there until I was 15 and our family immigrated to Canada. So, when I heard about this and saw that all three of those aspects came together in one organization I could see that this was a place that I’d like to place some of my energy.
Yes I am now a bona fide grandmother, but at the time I started I wasn’t, and of course got teased about that, but we’re not all grandmothers. There’s several members of our group that we call “grandothers” – that’s how they’re known across the country. These can be single women, women without children and grand-
L to R in the back: Mary Wallace, Jean Cameron, Arleen Cornish, Sheila Fahlman Marion Tudor, Sheila McKague, and Janet Bailey (kneeling at the end) Sitting front: Gail Greenberg and Susan Whittick
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FOR SASKATCHEWAN WOMEN | VOL. 2 ISSUE 1, JANUARY 2013