Newfoundland Friends of Nano and Sisters Respond to Needs

We’re being deliciously daring and hosting a 3-course dinner to support
A Dare To Remember!
And, we’re inviting you, your family and friends to join us in support of African grandmothers who are turning the tide of AIDS in their communities!

The above is a familiar invitation to the Friends of Nano in Newfoundland! Each year, with the support of the motherhouse community and many other sisters and associates, we host a Dare to Dine event by our staff and the JPIC committee, and we participate in the Stride to Turn the Tide walk in June. Between both events, with the generosity of our sponsors, we raise in the vicinity of $5000 for this worthy cause.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation held the first ever Grandmothers’ Gathering in August 2006 in Toronto, Canada. One hundred African grandmothers and two hundred Canadian grandmothers gathered for two days of workshops, run by the grandmothers themselves, on topics ranging from grief to traditional songs, from depression to fundraising, and from stigma to the care of children orphaned by AIDS. The Gathering provided an opportunity for Canadian grandmothers to hear the testimonies of African grandmothers first-hand.  The Terra Nova Grannies – a group of “Grandmothers” and Grand-others” to which I am happy to belong, are the Newfoundland chapter of this movement.

The strain of COVID-19 on under-resourced healthcare and support systems threatens to undermine decades of progress made in turning the tide of HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. With expertise gained from their response to the AIDS pandemic, our grassroots partners, with limited resources, are already adapting and innovating to meet the challenge of two pandemics, COVID-19 and AIDS. Our community-based partners across sub-Saharan Africa are working with courage, speed, and resourcefulness to pivot to meet the emerging needs of marginalized and vulnerable members of their communities.

by Lois Greene