WUNRN
HIV/AIDS - THE IMPORTANCE OF AFRICAN
GRANDMOTHERS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AIDS
At the Heart of the Devastation
Wrought by AIDS, Are 15 Million Children Orphaned by the Disease.
They Are Being Raised,
Overwhelmingly, by Their Grandmothers.
A South African
grandmother, with a young orphaned baby on her back.
Photo: DEBRA BLACK /
By: Ilana Landsberg-Lewis - November 30, 2013
December 1 was World AIDS Day. While
much of the press coverage was focused on the promise and hope that an end will
be found to new infections, we’d like to draw your attention to one simple —
but rarely mentioned — fact. African grandmothers have become the linchpin of
survival for their families and communities. Twenty-five million people have
died of AIDS in sub-Saharan
The end point
of the response can’t simply be seen as zero new infections. Our goal must be
the restored well-being of the people who live in countries hardest hit by HIV
and AIDS, and the promise of decent futures they can work together to build.
From this perspective, what happens to the grandmothers in sub-Saharan
What would the
world look like today if grandmothers hadn’t taken the initiative when no one
else would? Hadn’t stepped in to care for their families and neighbours as they
were decimated by HIV and AIDS? So many communities would not have been able to
survive. A generation of children would have been left so deeply traumatized
and neglected that they would now pose a danger to themselves and to others.
That possible future didn’t become a reality, and we have the grandmothers to
thank.
Community-based
organizations run by and for grandmothers have moved mountains to reclaim lives
and restore hope for their families and communities. Grandmothers are feeding
whole neighbourhoods of children and getting legions of orphaned kids back into
school. They are fighting the stigma that holds people back from treatment and
testing, and have become home-based care workers — bringing health care and
succour to those living with HIV and AIDS. Perhaps most significantly, grandmothers
are forming mutual support groups and networks, and showing the most
inspirational type of leadership. But gender inequality is making them pay an
unconscionable price. Grandmothers face a triple threat of discrimination,
based on sex, age, and HIV status, and their access to health care is often
extremely limited. They are vulnerable to violence, which exposes them to
infection. The death of family members has destroyed their previous economic
support systems. Property grabbing is a constant threat to grandmothers’
housing security. They are leading precarious lives, under the constant threat
of extreme poverty. One bad turn can lead to hunger, the end of children’s
schooling, and the loss of HIV treatment.
African
grandmothers deserve better — they deserve justice. On September 7, 2013, in
It's time to
recognize that grandmothers at the forefront of the HIV/AIDS crisis must have
our human rights respected and protected.
It's time to
support our organizations fully, and put systems in place to address our needs
and the needs of the children in our care.
It's time to
recognize our contribution to the survival of our communities, and the
expertise we have developed to do so, by giving us our rightful place and voice
wherever decisions are being made.
We, the
grandmothers of
Our labour,
with all of its struggles, challenges, knowledge and triumphs, has gone
unheeded for too long.
We will not let
the AIDS pandemic defeat us nor destroy our communities, but we cannot prevail
alone.
We call on you
to act with urgency and purpose to support our efforts to secure justice.
It is time!
Ilana
Landsberg-Lewis is executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.