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w w w .in s id e h a lto n .c o m | OAKVILLE B EAVER | T h u rs d a y , O c to b e r 2 6 , 2 0 1 7 | 6 Spotlight by Nathan Howes Special to the Beaver "C o n n e c t e d t o y o u r C o m m u n i t y " African grandmother attends Oomama book launch anadian grandmothers play a key role in helping their African sisters improve the quality of life for others. This is according to Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, co-founder and executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and co-author of the recently-released book, Powered by Love. It tells the story of Canadian grandmothers working with the Stephen Lewis Foundation to raise more than $25 million to support African grandmothers and the grassroots organizations working at the front lines of the AIDS pandemic through the Grandmothers-to-Grandmothers Campaign. Local grandmothers group, Oomama, hosted a launch event for Powered by Love at Oakville Town Hall, Thursday, Oct. 19. The gathering included remarks from Oakville resident and founding member of Oomama, Carole Holmes, and a 30-minute-plus moderated discussion with Landsberg Lewis, Judy Henderson, Oomama past chair, Kenneth E. Mugayehwenkyi, founder and executive director of Reach One Touch One Ministries (ROTOM) in Uganda, and African grandmother, Evelyne Bakenyaga, also with ROTOM. The event was part of a cross-country tour to launch the book and showcase the grandmothers' campaign. "As the African grandmothers are mobilizing, the Canadian grandmothers will continue to support them because that mobilizing takes financial support and solidarity," said LandsbergLewis. "The Canadian grandmothers also recognize the importance of their role in taking the movement global." Powered by Love author Joanna Henry and photographer Alexis MacDonald visited eight African countries, interviewing and photographing hundreds of grandmothers, including Sarah Obama, former U.S. president Barack Obama' s grandmother. The women raise their grandchildren and are rebuilding their communities with the support of Canadians and others around the world. "The whole point of the book was to give a voice to the grandmothers themselves. The authoritative text of the book is actually the grandmothers' voices and not the linking paragraphs that we wrote," said LandsbergLewis. C The Oakville chapter of the grandmother's group Oomama hosted the launch of the book, Powered by Love and a panel discussion. At the event are, from left, Ugandan grand mother Evelyn Bakenyaga, Kenneth Mugayehwenkyi, founder of Reach One, Touch One Ministries in Uganda, and Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, one of the two authors of Powered by Love. Landsberg-Lewis, co-founded the Stephen Lewis Foundation with her father, Stephen Lewis. | Riziero Vertolli/Metroland Holmes spoke about the origins of the Oomama group and how it came to fruition. In 2005, several of the members listened to activist Stephen Lewis speak about AIDSravaged Africa and how the grandmothers had buried their children and were caring for their orphaned grandchildren, she told the audience. "The stories were devastating, shocking, heart-rending. The African grandmothers had so few resources, and here we were, privileged grandmothers with so much of everything," said Holmes. "We had to do something." Bakenyaga has been involved with ROTOM for many years and is chair of her grandmothers group. She has mentored grandmothers from other communities on breaking the silence and stigma around HIV and AIDS. Bakenyaga lost three adult children to AIDS and is raising her eight grandchildren, keeping them healthy and thriving. "That' s the pain I'm talking about. I've lived with eight children to raise and two widows' (children). That brought the pain back," said Bakenyaga, translated by Mugayehwenkyi. ROTOM was launched by Mugayehwenkyi to help open seniors' centres in several districts in Uganda -- health care, education and awareness. He also chairs the Uganda Grandmothers Consortium, consisting of six Ugandan non governmental organizations working with grandmothers to advocate for their rights. Despite the success achieved by African and Canadian grandmothers in the past decade, Mugayehwenkyi said there are still many others needing help. "We see so many more grandmothers that are not yet as empowered, as (others)," said Mugayehwenkyi. For more information, visit wwwoomama. org. Beaver. Volume 5 5 | Number 76 LLE *m etrolan dm ed ia A JL 1> Defending principles to inspire public trust O n ta r io P re ss C o u n c il 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington (905) 845-3824 Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone (416) 340-1981. 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