Spotlight: African grandmothers bring stigma to TorontoHDN Key Correspondent Team**************************They came from far and wide. They came by foot, by train and finally by plane.Over 300 grandmothers from 10 African countries, came to meet their Canadiancounterparts to share their stories of grief and pain over the loss of theirchildren to the HIV epidemic.In a unique meeting organised by the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) in Toronto,a few days prior to the opening of the 16th International AIDS Conference,African grandmothers broke their silence over how stigma and discriminationundermines their efforts to hold families together and care for orphanedchildren."To be honest, I don't know whether my children have the HIV infection or not.There is so much stigma attached to ‘the condition’, as it is called in mycountry, that my children are afraid to know their status," says Joyce KajechiGichuana from Nairobi, Kenya.The soft-spoken, petite 63-year-old mother of three has six grandchildren of herown and has adopted six other children orphaned by the HIV epidemic in Kasaranidistrict, in Nairobi, Kenya. Three of these children are HIV positive. “Thesechildren are doubly burdened. Not only are they orphans, but they also facestigma and discrimination [associated with HIV]. If they get love and compassionI know they will be able to overcome it."Joyce is not the only one. Whether it is Martha Nduhi of Kenya, Leah Motlalepulcof South Africa, or Antonia Igres from Tanzania, their stories are strikinglysimilar.While statistics on the pandemic's effect on grandmothers are scarce,approximately 13 million children in sub-Saharan Africa have been orphaned byAIDS – a higher number than the total of every child under-18 in Canada, Norway,Sweden, Denmark and Ireland combined. 40 to 60 per cent of these orphans live ingrandmother-headed households.But how many people are aware of these statistics? More importantly, how manyreally care? Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Secretary-General's special envoyfor HIV and AIDS in Africa, realised that unless people living outside Africaexperienced the emotional battering that he felt when he saw the bodies ofpeople who had died of AIDS related illnesses, being abandoned in the morgue bytheir families would they be unable to understand the trauma of HIV-relatedstigma.The meeting between the African and Canadian grandmothers was a step towardsbridging this gap. "Grandmothers have stepped forward to care for millions ofchildren orphaned by AIDS. They have displayed the courage to overcome their ownfeelings of helplessness and emotional stress compounded by the stigmasurrounding HIV. As caregivers, many of them face discrimination, which makesfinding support that much harder. We wanted this meeting to help build a bond ofsolidarity between the grandmothers and let the African grandmothers know thatthey were not alone in their grief," says Stephan Lewis.But even Lewis did not anticipate the overwhelming support the Africangrandmothers received from their Canadian counterparts during their two-daymeeting. The age-old African ways of speaking without words broke down allcommunications barriers. They sang and danced, laughed and wept together. “Wewere afraid that language barriers would separate us, and our capacity to helpmight be reduced to fundraising alone. This meeting has broken all barriers.Although I was aware of their problems, I had never got involved in doingsomething about it. This meeting has given me an opportunity to act as theirvoice so that I can share their stories and raise awareness about HIV within mycommunity. I believe that awareness can reduce the stigma surrounding theepidemic,” contends Jo-Anna Page, a 63 year-old Canadian grandmother.While exchanges like this help in understanding HIV stigma and discrimination,it will need more than just one meeting to challenge the myths andmisconceptions that continue to perpetuate discrimination against people livingwith HIV (PLHIV). There has to be a sustained multi-pronged effort bynon-government organisations like the SLF. But more importantly, there has to begreater political will. Unless national governments demonstrate that they carefor every person infected by HIV by implementing laws that reduce stigma anddiscrimination against PLHIV, it is unlikely that the children of JoyceGichuana, will ever want to know their status.