Tuesday, October 6--The Gathering continues in earnest. Grandmothers assemble at the Imperial Beach Resort Hotel in the huge conference hall. From 9 to 9:30 there is a recap of yesterday with some discussion. At 9:30 we hear from Patience Sentamu, Head of the AIDS Support Organization (also daughter of Kaka Jolly, our chairperson for the whole conference.)
This morning the theme is
HIV and AIDS. We are being prepared for the ensuing workshops which begin at 9:45 on:
1. living with HIV
2. raising HIV positive grandchildren
3. disclosure (coming out, going public, dealing with ......)
We are broken into smaller groups again for these discussions. More reams of notes.
Photo by Oscar
Two rapporteurs taking notes from translater
while Stephen Lewis listens in.
At 11:15 there is a tea break outside on the lawn where refreshments are served, and we circulate, shop at the craft tables, or sit in chairs or on the ground and relax with a cup of tea and sweet bread. The atmosphere is cordial--laugher rings out through the park, there are lots of hugs, pictures are taken and new friends made.
This is not an easy experience for the Jajas--imagine being poor, possibly HIV positive, living in a small village caring for eight or ten grandchildren, and suddenly being bussed to a huge hotel in a strange city, wearing your best dress, to a gathering of close to 500 other grandmothers, most of whom you have never met before, to discuss and learn about matters that are very personal, sensitive and stressful, with the hope that all this is somehow going to make life easier. The tea break was an oasis.
Photo by Emmanuel
At 11:45 it is back to work--at a pleniary session where the workshops are reported and discussed further for an hour or so. I have reams of notes, but quoting them here would make this blog page too long. Everything is recorded and will be reviewed when the final conclusions are written up tomorrow. There will be a copy of the final Ugandan Grandmothers Statement after tomorrow's report. Further along I intend to create a separate page just of quotes I have taken from the various meetings.
At one o'clock it is lunch time. The same magnificent buffet is waiting for us in the dining room, and grandmothers collect at tables with their friends, and their plates piled high! I sat at the table with Joy--I deliberately sought her out, because I was curious about her. Even her name excuded optimism and hope. I sat beside Joy and some of her north west Ugandan grannies, and more or less interviewed her--she was eager to talk about herself and her life. She was a slight woman wearing modern attire, and a broad smile. I asked her how many grandchildren she was caring for, and she said "too many to count"! When I asked her who was caring for them in her absence, she said "my husband". She explained that he was taking them around to visit their relatives because they felt is was so important for orphans to know that they still did have some aunties and cousins--some blood relatives. She told me she hoped to go back to school and study gerintology. She said she had four children, her eldest daughter was graduating from university with a degree in Economics, and her three sons "had some education and were looking for jobs". She told me she was running for a position on the committee of their community based organization. She was 58 years old. None of her children were married yet, and she had no grandchildren of her own. I asked her, as delicately as I could, about the health of her family, and she understood why I asked, and smilingly said that all her family were in good health. She was not here to get help for herself, but to be of help to others. For so many years the SLF had been saying they were "turning the tide on HIV/AIDS in Africa" and this interview with Joy made me believe that the tide was truly turning.
Joy and Canadian Granny
Photo by Emmanuel
There was a tiny wizend old granny sitting opposite me, very quietly eating her lunch. Joy told me this lady wanted me to be "her friend". In other encounters so far, this had meant they wanted a big favour--money, or a new house or a school. And it was difficult to deflect these requests--we had to explain that it was the community based organizations, supported by SLF, that the help came from. Joy already understood this, but this lady's need was something different. I listened as Joy translated and I prayed to have a wise reply. It turned out that this lady's granddaughter had been savagely abused and raped, and was severely injured-- she could not walk. How could I help? With a heavy heart I contemplated, and remembered Patience--who yesterday, when she was introduced by her mother, had said if anyone needed help they should come to see her and she would help. A wide open and sincere promise. I reminded Joy of this promise, and they talked about this among themselves, and Joy and one of the young helping women said they would take the Jaja to speak to Patience. Now, Patience is a very busy person at this conference. But they took her to the St. Johns Ambulance kiosk at the back of the hall, where Patience met with people, and gave her a chair to sit and wait for Patience. This was fine with her--she was used to waiting. I bumped into Patience on my way back to the hall after lunch, and told her there was a lady who was waiting for her, and she already knew about her. Patience would have many connections.
Lunch was from 1:00 to 2:30--lots of time to eat and talk and rest. When we reconvened, there were twenty minutes of celebratory performances by grandmothers from various regions--singing and dancing and drumming. Our photographers were in heaven. (I also plan to create a separate photo gallery near the end. We have some absolutely amazing photos.)
Photo by Edward
Then back to work again, this time with the theme of
Social Protection. A short introductory discussion on the topic, and then break away workshops again on:
1. land and housing issues
2. social security
3. inheritance (or lack thereof)
4. child support.
We broke into groups once more to observe and take notes. There was plenty of discussion and grandmothers finding their voices to express their pain, their hopes and needs. I attended only one of these workshops and was not one of the official rapporteurs. It was very intense.
Photo by Edward
Reconvened for a pleniary report on Social Protection ended at 5:20 with Tea Break which took us to the end of the planned day. I think we were all grateful to have the evening off--the Canadians eating supper together and unwinding from a very full day. As I review this page before publishing it I am struck by the changes in tempo as the day unfolded, never allowing boredom or fatigue. The sign of a well planned event.
Photo by Emmanuel
