Grandmothers raising Grandchildren

I lived in Kenya from 2004-06, working for the Peace Corps. During this time, I met many children who were living with their grandmothers because their parents died of AIDS-related illness.

These grandmothers were in very desperate situations.  They did not know where to go for assistance and were not able to walk long distances. A neighbor and I decided to form a support group for these women. We contacted churches and asked them to identify the most needy cases. We met with 15 women who collectively were raising 47 grandchildren. The group was registered under the name “Grandmothers raising Grandchildren” in 2006 at the Department of Social Services in Ahero, Kenya.

Upon my return to the U.S., I could not forget these brave women and wanted to continue the work I had started in Ahero.  I applied and was granted a non profit  501(c)3  status  for the nonprofit organization “Grandmothers raising Grandchildren.” We now support 49 grandmothers raising 157 grandchildren.

I visit the group every year to see the progress we are making and assess what is most needed.

I visited one home and where the grandmother was breast-feeding her two-year old grandson. I learned it is biologically possible and common in Africa for a baby to be able to nurse from her grandmother. The baby sucks and eventually the older woman begins to produce milk again.

The stories I hear are moving, funny and endearing. Once I was attending a Q&A at the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and one of the grandmothers raised her hand to tell the group that she had taught her grandson to use a condom, many cheered in support of her brave action. Another grandmother raised her hand and told the staff that she was HIV-positive. She explained that she contracted AIDS when she was working as a midwife and delivered a baby to mother who was HIV-positive.

Grandmothers raising Grandchildren (GrG) holds biweekly meetings where we distribute basic supplies: flour, cooking oil, bars of soap and Waterguard (a product to protect drinking water). The grandmothers live in mud huts with no running water or electricity.  Therefore, keeping track of these meeting could be tough but they came up with a system.  They come home from their meetings and stack 14 sticks of wood on the table.  They take away one stick away per day – when the last stick is gone they go back to their meetings to meet their friends and get their supplies.

Bie Bostrom is President of Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren (GrG). She starts every day with a 5-mile run near her home in Walnut Creek, CA, and then spends her days at her computer working for her “grandmothers” in Ahero, Kenya.