The following newsletter comes from Sally and Paxie, our Grandmother Regional Liaisons (GRL) for the BC Islands.  It is passed on by Diane Quinn, who is the Liaison for our Oceanside Grandmothers to Grandmothers group.  Communication with other groups in our region and the with GRLs flows through her.

SLF Programme Team (explanation below)

Greetings from Sally & Paxie, your GRLs  (Grandmother Regional Liaisons). 

Please send us news of your upcoming events specifically dates, place and with short description. We’ll send a list out to all 14 groups in our region with the next update.  This is a great way to find out what’s going on, spread good ideas, and perhaps meet the other SLF grandmothers in our region by supporting each others’ events. We probably have friends and family members in other communities who we can encourage to attend a Grandmother event.

March 2014 Grandmother Delegation to SLF Projects

You’ll probably have noticed in Feb 2014 SLF Bulletin that our BC Islands Region is well represented on the upcoming SLF delegation trip going to Ethiopia, Rwanda and South Africa.

It is countdown time for our 3 representatives, Joan, Paxie and Tina, and we send them off this Friday with our love & blessings, awaiting their return on March 18^th. They will surely have amazing tales to tell and experiences of the SLF Projects to share with us upon their return in mid-March.

Presentations and speaking engagements around our region are something each of the travellers is wanting to do. We’ll leave it up to you, your Grandmother Group, to contact Joan (VG4A) Paxie (NanGos) and Tina (MGMs) to arrange a post-trip visit to your group and/or to your community.

March 1 – Drumming Evening in Victoria at UVIC 

This is a participatory workshop sponsored by VG4A (Victoria Grans for Africa) There are still a few tickets left – contact Renee rhmcgilly@shaw.ca  asap.

GRL Meeting Feb 2014

Paxie and I attended the GRL meeting in Toronto Feb 8-10 with the other 14 GR Liaisons from across Canada. It was a very productive, informative meeting where we got a deeper understanding of the challenges and realities of the G2G Campaign from the inspiring staffers of the SLF.

Since its inception in 2006, the G2G Campaign has raised $19.5 million, averaging around $2.5 million per year. We heard that assessing, monitoring and evaluating the needs of the existing projects  in sub-Saharan Africa is the job of the Programme Team (photo above) working closely with the 6 Field Reps based in home countries. They also receive approximately 100 new proposals per month, a daunting job.

During the meeting, we shared fund-raising, organizing and strategy ideas from Grandmother Groups in all Regions as well as how to use social media to get the word out. At last count, there are 243 GGroups, approx. 6500 of us across Canada. If you and your group would like to hear more about this meeting, please contact Sally, or Paxie when she returns.

New GRL Needed for BC Islands

Our Region has 2 co-Liaisons, with overlapping 2 year terms. We ask you, with your group’s encouragement, to consider taking on this role. No special expertise is needed, just a strong interest in the G2G Campaign and willingness to share the excitement. Sally’s term finishes this March, and the incoming GRL will go until March 2016. Paxie’s term continues till 2015.

Put your name forward or nominate a member of your group, by sending an email to Sally and/or Paxie accompanied by a letter of support from your GGroup  (which can come later). It is a good idea to pass this role around the Region, thus increasing our  involvement and connection.

Film: Sweet Dreams

At our local Film Festival last month, we screened a tremendous film about a women’s drumming troupe in Rwanda. Check out “Sweet Dreams” made in 2012.  www.sweetdreamsrwanda.com

Sally   sallygel@yahoo.ca   250 337-8328