Author Archives: SPIDER WOMAN

Southern Alberta Liaison to Stephen Lewis Foundation ~ November Report

I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful fall colours. October has been lovely so far!
At our last GRL meeting we learned interviews are starting this week to fill Suko’s position.

There are 17 applicants for the African trip. They are being vetted by a committee and will hear if accepted at the beginning of November. Unfortunately there were no Alberta applicants.

The Fall grassroots came out last week and the Bulletin comes out next week. If you need hard copies for events please email SLF.

The campaign call is on Thursday October 17th. In future every third campaign call will include a partner from Africa joining the call. This will happen on November 15 with one of the Zimbabwean organizations taking part. It will be one hour earlier to incorporate the time change. There will be no campaign call in December.

Liana Landsberg-Lewis has rejoined the board of directors of SLF. Stephen remains co-chair of the board.

There is art leftover from the Toronto art sale. It is from African countries. If you are hosting an art sale it may be shipped to you.

The organization has been chosen to have a booth at Quilt Canada next June in Mississauga. It will not be judged as it has been completed by so many persons but will be on display.

Eastside Grannies held a Scrabble event in September. Participants are sponsored and the 13 supporters raised $13,000.

All for now,
Judy

Report by Advograms to October 17 Gathering

Yvonne Schmitz, member of Advograms, Calgary which is the local chapter of the Grandmothers Advocacy Network attended the October 17 Gathering on behalf of Ann Rycroft. She indicated that GRAN decided to continue the work they have been doing over the past year and a half on The Right to Food campaign. Up to now the focus has been on helping Grandmothers access or grow the food they need for their grandchildren.

On October 15, World Food Day, GRAN announced that this year the campaign would shift its focus to Child Hunger. As we know, children who lack nutrition do not develop properly, don’t learn well in school and are at greater risk of illness and disease. Through various actions we will raise awareness of the prevalence of this issue and leverage pressure for governments to act. We have consistently pressed our government to increase Official Development Assistance. We would welcome any of you to join our group. Our next meeting is scheduled for November 14th at 12:30 at ATCO. Kindly connect with Ann Rycroft rycrofta@shaw.ca to let her know if you are planning to come.

Yvonne also thanked Ujamaa for inviting us to the Alberta Grandmothers Gathering. We were so impressed at how well it was organized and what great speakers you had, not to mention the wonderful food.

Bake Sale – November 23, 2024

Hello Ujamaa Grandma Bakers and Volunteers!

This year our bake sale with the Justice Film Festival Peace Market HAS MOVED. The parking is free for the day so come on down and enjoy the films and indulge your baking cravings.

WHERE: The Confluence (Fort Calgary), 750 9 Ave SE, Calgary, AB.
DROP OFF: We are asking that you deliver your baked goods directly to The Confluence (Fort Calgary) after 10:15 a.m. If this is not possible, perhaps a friend who’s delivering baking can deliver yours as well. Alternatively, Anne Taylor is graciously offering her home as a drop off.
SALE: Saturday, November 23  from 11:00 am to 6:00 p.m.

Once again, we are going as plastic-free as possible and would like to include some allergy-sensitive items. Last year we sold out of carrot cake, everything chocolate, cookies and shortbread. We will do the pricing and packaging for the public. All proceeds from the sale go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

The films look amazing. You can check out the Justice Film Festival offerings and find out more information about The Confluence at: https://justicefilmfestival.ca.

Pamela Knox and Rachel Millard

The History of a Difficult Child

BOOK CLUB November 2024 Selection

The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat is a novel about a young girl growing up during turbulent times in a small town in Ethiopia in the 1980s. The narrator is ten years old by the end of the story and  according to one reviewer, is “a magnificent guide to this ancient and enduring culture.” (New York Review of Books).

 

Our club welcomes new members. We meet approximately every six weeks and generally alternate between fiction and non-fiction books written about Africa, primarily although not exclusively by African authors.

For more information or to join us, write tomessage@ujamaagrandmas.com and we will  get back to you.

Education Committee ~ November 2024 Report

The Stephen Lewis Foundation and specifically the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign provides funding for a variety of partners in Sub-Sahara Africa. This month the Education and Awareness Committee would like to highlight Grandmothers Against Poverty and AIDS (South Africa) GAPA.

GAPA began as a result of the implementation phase of a research project at the University of Cape Town. This research project focused on the struggles of grandmothers living in an area near Cape Town and was designed to meet the needs shared by the grandmothers in the study who were impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. These grandmothers stated that the support they received in the pilot project was so helpful they did not want it to end when the project was completed.

In October 2001, grandmothers from this area formed the non-profit organization, GAPA. The goal was to help grandmothers impacted by HIV/AIDS better cope with the stresses of daily living. GAPA is now managed by a small staff, a committee made up of grandmothers and a board. GAPA receives funding from the South African government as well as a number of organizations including the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

GAPA supports the formation of business cooperatives and has integrated income generation into some of their programs. Grandmothers are taught arts and crafts, sewing and gardening skills. GAPA’s motto is “together we are stronger”. These grandmothers believe working together has had a healing impact on their emotional, physical and psychological health.

The Stephen Lewis Foundation provides funding for GAPA’s pre-school bursary program where orphans and vulnerable children are in a classroom while their grandmothers participate in support groups. Bursaries are awarded based on need and the availability of funds.
Today, over 600 seniors belong to a network of senior self-help groups. They support each other in learning more about how to maintain healthy lifestyles and learning skills that help them sustain their livelihoods.

Out of the seniors’ concern for the safety of their grandchildren, an aftercare program was started in 2008 and continues today. Over 100 children between the ages of 5-13 are cared for and fed daily.

The GAPA model has been replicated in other countries including Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Kenya.

A Milestone

We recently received this message from the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  It is truly a time to celebrate all that Ujamaa members have contributed that made these amazing donations possible.
All of you have done so much over the years in so many, many ways.  Ujamaa is truly a wonderful group, each of you giving time, talents, expertise and creativity to the many initiatives we have engaged in over time.
Thanks to each and every one of you!

Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood

BOOK CLUB October 2024 Selection

Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah is a memoir of growing up as a mixed-race person in South Africa.

Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.This promises to be an enlightening read that is also very funny.

If you are interested in joining our book club, please contact message@ujamaagrandmas.com and we will get right back to you.

Quality of Mercy

BOOK CLUB August 2024 Selection
Quality of Mercy by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu is a mystery novel  in which a country’s first Black chief inspector investigates the disappearance of a powerful white man.
Quality of Mercy was designates as Best African Book of 2023, and is the conclusion to her multiple award-winning City of Kings trilogy.
We will return to a non-fiction selection in October. New members are always welcome. Contact us at message@ujamaagrandmas.com

Tea, Scones and Malaria

BOOK CLUB July  2024 Selection

This month our  book is Tea, Scones and Malaria by Katlynn Brooks.

This book is a phenomenal true account of one girl’s extraordinary upbringing in the rough and feral bushveld of 1950s and 60s Rhodesia. Moving from one makeshift camp to the next, the family follows Dad, a bridge builder for the government, deep into the heart of elephant and cheetah country.

“We ran barefoot in the bush, and swam in crocodile-infested rivers. We shared our camps with snakes, scorpions, and jerrymunglums. There was no electricity, no hospitals, and no schools in the bush. How I survived it all, I will never know.”

Hilarious, touching, raw, and deeply honest, this memoir records the journey from child to teenager to woman against the backdrop of a vanishing world, as Rhodesia begins its long and tumultuous transition into the independent country of Zimbabwe.

 This Child Will Be Great

BOOK CLUB April  2024 Selection

This month our  book is This Child Will Be Great, a memoir by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Sirleaf shares the story of her rise to power, including her early childhood; her experiences with abuse, imprisonment, and exile; and her fight for democracy and social justice. She reveals her determination to succeed in multiple worlds, from her studies in the United States to her work as an international bank executive, to campaigning in some of Liberia’s most desperate and war-torn villages and neighborhoods. It is the tale of an outspoken political and social reformer who fought the oppression of dictators and championed change. By telling her story, Sirleaf encourages women everywhere to pursue leadership roles at the highest levels of power, and gives us all hope that we can change the world.

Sirleaf became the first elected head of state of an African country (in this case, Liberia, in 2006) She  won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011.

Burger’s Daughter

BOOK CLUB March  2024 Selection

Burger’s Daughter by Nadine Gordimer (winner  of the Nobel Prize for Literature) was published in 1979. This novel is modelled after real people involved in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

This is the moving story of the unforgettable Rosa Burger, a young woman from South Africa cast in the mold of a revolutionary tradition. Rosa tries to uphold her heritage handed on by martyred parents while still carving out a sense of self. Although it is wholly of today, Burger’s Daughter can be compared to those 19th century Russian classics that make a certain time and place come alive, and yet stand as universal celebrations of the human spirit.

Most of our books to date have been written by contemporary young, black African authors and we thought it would be interesting to go back to this earlier period in history.

What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours

BOOK CLUB January  2024 Selection


 What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi is a collection of short stories and is cleverly built around the idea of keys, literal and metaphorical. The key to a house, the key to a heart, the key to a secret—Oyeyemi’s keys not only unlock elements of her characters’ lives, they promise further labyrinths on the other side.
Oyeyemi’s tales span multiple times and landscapes as they tease boundaries between coexisting realities. Is a key a gate, a gift, or an invitation?

Things Fall Apart

BOOK CLUB September 2023 Selection

Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, was written in 1958 and is considered a classic in African literature and has inspired many African authors of today.
THINGS FALL APART tells two overlapping, intertwining stories, both of which center around Okonkwo, a “strong man” of an Ibo village in Nigeria.
The first  storiy traces Okonkwo’s fall from grace with the tribal world in which he lives, and in its classical purity of line and economical beauty it provides us with a powerful fable about the immemorial conflict between the individual and society.
The second story is as modern as the first is ancient, and elevates the book to a tragic plane,
 These twin dramas are perfectly harmonized, and they are modulated by an awareness capable of encompassing at once the life of nature, human history, and the mysterious compulsions of the soul.

Toufah: The Woman who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement

BOOK CLUB July 2023 Selection
An incandescent and inspiring memoir from a courageous young woman who, after she was forced to flee to Canada from her home in The Gambia, became the first woman to publicly call the country’s dictator to account for sexual assault—launching an unprecedented protest movement in West Africa.
Join us to share this powerful story. Toufah: The Woman who Inspired an African #MeToo Movement by Toufah Jallow with Kim Pittaway.

I Am a Girl From Africa

BOOK CLUB June 2023 Selection

Eizabeth Nyamayaro is from Zimbabwe. At the age of 8, she nearly died of starvation during a famine. Her rescue by a United Nations aid worker inspired her with a dream to work for the UN. This memoir recounts her early life in a small village and her career working for a variety of causes at the UN, including HIV/AIDS, child marriage, domestic violence, and women’t rights. It is an inspirational read.

Glory

BOOK CLUB May 2023 Selection

Glory is a new book from NoViolet Bulawayo, the award-winning author of the Booker-prize finalist We Need New Names.
NoViolet Bulawayo’s bold new novel follows the fall of the Old Horse, the long-serving leader of a fictional country, and the drama that follows for a rumbustious nation of animals on the path to true liberation.

Powered By Love

BOOK CLUB April 2023 Selection

Powered by Love is  the book written for the Stephen Lewis Foundation by Joanna Henry and Ilana Landsberg-Lewis. Many of us have this book but we thought it would be interesting to read it from cover to cover (instead of using it as a reference) and talk about it together.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

BOOK CLUB February 2023 Selection

On February 24, we will be discussing the novel “How Beautiful We Were” by Cameroonian-American author Imbolo Mbue.

This book is about a fictional African village that is suffering from pollution and environmental degradation caused by an American oil company, and how they decided to fight back. We have also read Mbue’s previous novel, Behold the Dreamers, and loved it.

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai

BOOK CLUB January 2023 Selection

This month we will be  discussing Unbowed,  a memoir by Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental and social justice work.

We are looking forward to what promises to be an inspirational life story.

This is a remarkable memoir of courage, faith, and the power of persistence; about one woman’s extraodinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage. “[Maathai’s] story provides uplifting proof of the power of perseverance–and of the power of principled, passionate people to change their countries and inspire the world.”

Behold the Dreamers 

BOOK CLUB November 2022 Selection

 Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue tells the  tale of a young couple from Cameroon who come to the US in search of a better life.Their precarious legal status makes their lives very difficult. Interestingly, the author portrays the struggles of their wealthy employer at the time of the 2008 stock market crash as well, and  in an empathetic manner. It’s a novel that’s hard to put down, so you would still have time to read it by November 11 if you’d like to join us! New members are always welcome. Just write to message@ujamaagrandmas.doc and we’ll send you the Zoom link.