Go Go Getters Blog

African Grannies visit Cobourg!

2007-10-25T17:51:00.000-04:00

The GoGoGetters were honoured and delighted to host two visiting African Grannies for a short visit with refreshments, wisdom, questions and answers. Mama Zodawa and Darlina held court with a group including our members, young people from the West High School's Interact Club, and pastors and parishoners from St. Peter's Church among others.

All were charmed by the Grannies, members of the South African AIDS activist group TAC, and impressed with their message. We were also delighted to meet Julie Coultas of the Stephen Lewis Foundation who accompanied the women.

A wonderful afternoon!

Here are a couple of articles from the local papers describing the event. Click on the photos for a full-sized version.

GoGoGetters Launch new Fundraising Website:

2007-10-01T18:04:00.000-04:00

http://www.gogoshoppers.ca

Help support the Stephen Lewis Foundation by doing your internet shopping through our new website. Every penny you spend earns us commissions that we pass entirely on to The Stephen Lewis Foundation.

How it works:

Many web merchants pay money to websites who sign up as affiliates and then send visitors to their online stores, as long as that person ends up buying something. The cost to you is exactly the same as if you'd gone straight to their sites. For example, if you a book through chapters.ca or from amazon.ca, we would get a commission of 4%-5% of what you spend. All of the money we receive will go straight to the SLF to help to ease the pain of AIDS in Africa by providing assistance to women, orphans, grandmothers and organizations of people living with HIV and AIDS in 14 countries.

Diana and Those Guys Charm the Crowd at our Second Musical Fundraiser

2007-06-03T21:01:00.000-04:00

Diana and Those Guys are a terrific local Cobourg band who play a mixture of r&b, pop and classic rock and by the end of the night usually have their fans dancing and singing along. Our fundraiser, held again at Meet at 66 King East, was staged in a much more intimate performance space than they're accustomed to and they rose to the challenge, tailoring their setlist for the event and showing a quieter, gentler side to the band. By all accounts their performance was a rousing success, and the crowd seemed enthralled by the short film provided by the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Special thanks go Diana and Those Guys for the music and for donating all of their fees back to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, to the KPR Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario for their surprise donation, to Edward and Diana from Meet at 66 King East for providing the venue once again and for the delicious coffee and deserts, and a huge thank you to Fran Fearnley of Zimart, Canada's Shona Sculpture Gallery, for donating an amazing piece of Zimbabwean sculpture that we raffled off. The evening also marked the first appearance of the Little Travellers in Cobourg, which proved to be a huge hit with everyone. All in all another fantastic night.

Here's a short video of highlights from the evening:

Diana. And those guys!

The Little Travellers make their Cobourg debut.

Go Go Getters Help African Grandmothers

2007-06-02T10:53:00.000-04:00

Fantastic article from The Northumberland News, May 30, 2007. Click on the picture above for a full sized version.

Bridge Clinic Supports the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers Program

2007-05-28T14:30:00.000-04:00

On four Tuesday afternoons in April, sixteen people improved their bridge skills by learning basic conventions and developing standard defensive strategies. Peter Hayward a ACBL Life Master and member of the Cobourg and Peterborough Duplicate Bridge Clubs donated his teaching skills and lead the participants through new conventions. Cathryn Thompson of MacKechnie House in Cobourg donated the use of her large inviting living room. Participants donated $40 a session and along with additional donated funds the clinic raised $740.00. A great time was had by all and many interesting bridge hands were played. Audrey Herrema organized the event in response the needs identified during the Aids coverage last fall.

Generation of Orphans

2007-05-18T10:39:00.000-04:00

May 18, 2007

I had the privilege of attending the premiere screening of “Generation of Orphans” in Toronto last Friday and would like to share the spirit of the evening with you.

This is the second of 3 half hour films produced by The Stephen Lewis Foundation with a view to enabling us to experience, and better understand, the work and purpose of the foundation. This was the first time that I had seen Stephen Lewis in person and, as I expected, his presence was exhilarating. His passion and exuberance are infectious; you cannot help but take some away with you.

And then there were the Grandmothers. I believe that there were 8 or nine in body but they were thousands in spirit, each so anxious, in their own personal way, to tell of their hopes, wishes and fears for their young ones and their countries. How appreciative they are for any little thing offered and what stories they told with heartache and humour.

I am convinced that we, the audience, each at some time that evening reflected on what a gift it is that we have the means and opportunity to be of assistance in any whatever way we can.
Stephen Lewis, his daughter and son and all of the staff and contributors of the foundation have much to be proud of and still so much to do. Thanking you all I look forward to what the future brings.

Joyce Taylor
Cobourg Go Go Getters

Cobourg Go Go Getters go for another successful fundraiser

2007-05-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

Click on the image above to see the full sized article.

Presenting an article from yesterday's Cobourg Star (May 17, 2007). Great publicity!

I've seen the band Diana and Those Guys a number of times and they're fantastic. Come if you can, it's going to be a really really great night.

Greg

Northumberland Residents seek support for African Heroes

2007-05-17T20:10:00.000-04:00

click on the image above to see the full size article

Here is an article from the Cobourg Star published back in October 2006 announcing the formation of our group by Barb and Jeremy and the details of the first fundraiser on October 15th. This is the article that first got Gill and Rachel (and later me) involved in this wonderful group.

Northumberland residents seek support for African heroes

By Cecilia Nesmith

As AIDS ravages the continent of Africa, grandmothers are emerging as the heroes of this tragic story. But a couple of local volunteers hope to take part in writing a more hopeful ending to the tale.

Cobourg resident Jeremy Fleming and Hastings resident Barb Bromley - each unkown to the other - were in attendance at the International AIDS conference in Toronto in August (on the programming and registration committees respecively). When they met, they agreed that one of the most compelling aspects of the conference was the stories related by the 100 African grandmothers who shared their stories.

Typically, an African woman dying of AIDS goes home to her mother to be cared for - and brings her children, who remain with the grandmother after she is gone. As a result, United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis has said, grandmothers are emerging as the unrecognized heroes of the continent.

The situation for grandmothers in Africa will only get worse, Mr. Fleming added. There are 13 million AIDS orphans now, but the number should rise to 28 million witin the next five years.

Through the 100 community-based projects the Stephen Lewis Foundation has supported in 14 countries are programs that help these grandmothers secure food, opportunities to earn a living, school fees and uniforms for their grandchildren, counselling and much-needed social support.

Mr. Lewis's Grandmothers To Grandmothers campagin aims to build solidarity between these grandmothers and their Canadian couterparts - and to foster a partnership in which the Canadian grandmothers help in a more substantial way by fundraising for their Africa sisters, whose hands are already full with their new responsibilities even as their hearts grieve for their lost children.

Their stories deeply stirred everyone, Mr. Fleming said, including some 250 Candian grandmothers present.

"It was a really powerful experience for both of us so, with all the granmothers in Cobourg, there's no reason there shouldn't be a group here," he declared.

Hence the October 26 information session and fundraiser for the fledgling Go Go Getters group.
The group's name came from the fact that Go Go means Grandmother in one of the African dialects, Mrs. Bromley explained, "but I wanted to have something that symbolizes that it's not just for grandmothers - and I also think we are go-getters."

From 7 to 8 p.m., those interested in helping are invited to tea and dessert at Meet At 66 King Street East in Cobourg to learn more about the group and the larger Grandmothers campaign, whith a portion of the $15 admission going directly to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
"Every group is unique," she continued, "There's one group of artists who paint chairs and sell them and have all sorts of creative ideas."

The local group's point of uniqueness is that it is seeking the involvement of non-grandmothers of all ages as well as the grannies - teenagers, men, young women, anyone who wants to help, anyone with time or creative gifts to offer.

"A lot of these grandmothers' groups have a core team of eight to 12 people who are running things, and they pull in other people," she explained.

Anyone showing an interest is not necessarily committing to being on the core group, Mr. Fleming added - though they are welcome to do so or to make themselves available as-needed.

For more information, or to pre-register for the October 26 event, call Ms. Bromley at (705) 6963658 (e-mail address bromle@sympatico.ca) or Mr. Fleming at 905-377-0620 (e-mail address info@victoriaview.ca).

Cobourg Go Go Getters

2007-05-02T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

I created this blog so that anyone who wants can post about their experiences within and behalf of the group and the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

If you're a member of the Go Go Getters, email Gill or gogogetters@gmail.com for the login info, click on "sign in" on the upper right of this page, and then click on new post.

Thanks!

Greg