The Gogo group was started in 2008 by Eunice Mangwane from SA, Sue McNab from the UK and Annette Woudstra from Canada/SA.
It began by wanting to honour the strength of the women in our community who often have had to suffer the loss of their own children to disease and then take care of their grandchildren. Crossroads and Lover’s Twist have successful and now independent chicken-raising projects, and soon Hamburg village has just started their own with great success.
Ntilini and Bodium villages have large organic gardens that they were taught to run by the Keiskamma Trust Gardeners and they are still supported weekly by them. Rain tanks, seeds and tools were provided to them through the fundraising efforts of the Bourne End Gogo group who have so far donated over 160 000 Rands to this programme and to the chicken growing groups.
Over 70 Grandmothers attended our first rally in July of 2011—representing 6 villages and marking the first time that they have all been brought together. We had such fun and the Gogos enjoyed showing off their energy and joy in life—which is a encouragement to us all.
Nozeti Makhubalo
The Keiskamma Trust Gogo to Gogo groups are supported primarily through the fund and awareness raising efforts of the Bourne End Gogo, UK.
The Women of Hope Group in Edmonton Alberta, Canada, have also assisted in funding this programme.
Both Grandmother Groups in the UK and in Canada have also generously supported the other programmes of the Trust that impact Grandmothers’ lives directly—the Health Project, which provides home-based care and HIV/AIDs services to over 40 villages in our district, and the Art Project which provides essential income generating opportunities for many Grandmothers who struggle to support large families with very limited resources or support.
Contact Annette at annette@keiskamma.org for up-to-date info on the Gogo programme, or to find out how to help support this initiative.
