BY GIANNI UBRIACO
There are approximately 14 million AIDS orphans in sub-Saharan
Africa who are looked after by  their impoverished
grandmothers.
When Whitefish native Margo Oliver read this mind-boggling
statistic in the Globe and Mail, she knew she wanted to help.
"That information was very revealing to me," said Oliver.
"It just seemed to me to be the right thing to do with the rest
of my life."
Oliver approached members of her group, the Penage Road Women's Institute Grannies. The women's group of 30 women will celebrate their 60th anniversary next year. They try to educate women by holding special workshops, providing various bursaries, and working on different projects.
To help the millions of African grandmothers, members decided
to set aside  $10 of their own money this past summer and
use it to expand on a fundraising project of their choosing.
Oliver chose to make chocolate fudge cookies and raised
$830. Pat Brunne, their co-chair and public relations officer,
made and sold 14 blueberry and raspberry pies, while their
project co-ordinator, Barbara Smatlanek, made blueberry muffins
and jam.
In total the group has collected $2,822 and that money has
been sent to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which launched its
Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign March 7 to coincide with
International Women's Day.
"That's not bad for a summer's work, is it?" asks Oliver.
"The individuals have enjoyed the challenge of raising their
own funds, meeting people and having terrific experiences that
they would never have had before. They've experienced the
generosity of people around them toward this awful
predicament."
Anyone interested in this project can to contact the women
at 866-2938 or visit
www.stephenlewisfoundation.org
.
"The reason we started collecting  money and the reason
we did the projects was because we were concerned about women
our age who were now responsible for sometimes as many as 15 or
16 children. Can you imagine having all those kids at your
house?" says Smatlanek, who has visited Africa and seen the
situation for herself.
"I've seen the conditions; if I can help a little bit, I don't mind to stand there and be stirring  jam," she says.
