In 2004 she spoke to a small group of people in Wakefield, Quebec about her work with some of the grandmothers who are, according to Stephen Lewis, "the glue holding a nation together" in South Africa, where there are two and a half million orphans.

Local women were so moved that twelve of them formed the Wakefield Grannies to write letters to their African counterparts and to raise money to send to them. The gogos were surprised, humbled and encouraged that someone across the world would care about their needs. This money provided shoes for the women, most of whom didn't have any, a serger for sewing and outings for the children.

Then in 2006 Letwaba and three gogos attended the HIV/AIDS Conference in Toronto with the birth of the Stephen Lewis Foundation's "Grandmother to Grandmother" campaign. Excited women met and shared in person and it became clear that the Wakefield Grannies had started something that was taking off across Canada. Lewis said, "It's really taken off. We're taken aback at the foundation. They've triggered a chord."

The story has been chronicled in a film by Wakefield Granny Brenda Rooney and her husband, entitled "The Great Granny Revolution," that premiered in Vernon on June 13.

The Okanagan College theatre was full for the occasion and Vernon's African Drumming Circle added to the African ambiance of the evening, as Grannies à Gogo: the Vernon - South Africa Connection was officially launched.

Susan Fenner hosted the event. She lived in South Africa for four years in the small rural community of Sabie. She was frustrated while there by the lack of help the grandmothers were getting. "These (rural) communities fall through the cracks. What the Wakefield Grannies were doing sounded like exactly what I wanted to do - to help the gogos financially and develop personal contacts. My thought was - we in Canada are blessed with abundance. We want to make a difference in the life of another but we don't know where to begin," she said.

Fenner said that a support group was begun in Sabie in March, the same month the group started here. It attracted 55 gogos, who meet with a social worker to share their grief, challenges and successes and split into smaller self-help groups called "Sitabo Gogo," or "Help a Gogo."

Fenner has found a reliable woman to act as an administrator for letters and donations and she expects basics such as warm clothes for the cold winter to be the starting place for assistance as well as blankets, safe heaters and decent mattresses. "Over time the needs will become different," she said, adding that she is excited about the possibility of having a "trickle down" effect upon the next generation.

The Vernon group is not looking for members as much as supporters at this time. They are planning a community garage sale in September. Brenda Rooney will be back in the area with her film in late August for a showing in Kamloops. For further information email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone Fenner at 542-3417.

Lynn Dewing