History
Togogo Grannies was founded in 2006, just weeks after the Stephen Lewis Foundation launched the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign with the Grandmothers Gathering in Toronto August 2006. Four Bloor Street United Church members, Ruth Mechanicus, Dianne Johnson, Marie Marsellus and Bridget Hough attended the Gathering. Ruth had recently received a cancer diagnosis and knew her days were numbered – she wanted to do something meaningful with the rest of her life. She turned to us and said “If your children died would you be willing or able to take on the upbringing of your grandchildren?” Even with the social and health supports we are lucky enough in Canada to have access to, we didn’t believe we could do it, but the African grandmothers we had met were doing just that, with considerably fewer resources! We were inspired. In the ten years since then Togogo Grannies has raised an impressive $136,993.19, according to the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s records. About $100,000 of that is proceeds of events we have held. The rest is from individual donations to SLF from us and our friends, and collected directly from people attending our events. Since our inception, Togogos have raised close to $150,000 for the SLF.
WHO?
We are a group of grandmothers and “grandOTHERS” who support grandmothers in sub-Saharan Africa who are raising their grandchildren because their daughters and sons died of AIDS. It is not uncommon to find a grandmother looking after five to 10 children. We Togogos raise funds for and promote the Grandmothers to Grandmothers programme of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. (link to SLF)
Stephen Lewis Foundation
Stephen Lewis was the UN High Commissioner for AIDS in Africa from 2001 until 2006. He observed that almost an entire generation of parents had lost or were losing their lives to AIDS – in the early years of the epidemic there was no treatment or cure but there was fear and stigma. Filling in the gap the grandmothers of Africa stepped in to bring up their grandchildren. He was so moved by their courageous spirit that when he left the UN he founded the Stephen Lewis Foundation to support them. One of the foundation’s first actions was to bring 100 African grandmothers to Canada for a Grandmothers Gathering to meet and educate 200 Canadian grandmothers.
WHERE?
Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, the Togogos met at Bloor Street United Church in downtown Toronto, on the second Sunday of each month at 12:15 pm from September to June. We are considered part of the church's Social Justice mission. Our members come from all over the south-central GTA. We welcome anyone who is interested in our cause; that’s what “grand-OTHERS” means!
WHAT Does togogo mEan?
No, we are not a club for retired gogo dancers! The name TOGOGO comes from the combination of TO for Toronto and “Gogo” which is the Xhosa word for grandmother.
(graphic: TO – Toronto GOGO – Xhosa – grandmother)
