I got a call bright and early on March 12th from Grete Hale, an amazing lady (google her to see how amazing) whom I’d just met two days earlier at an event to celebrate International Women’s Day. I was surprised to hear from her but quite floored when she told me that she was calling to thank me for writing this wonderful story. In her words, “a story that needed to be told.” You see she had the book at the event on the 10th and had read it the previous day but finished to late in the evening to call me, hence the early morning call. She was so excited that she had to call me “right away.”

If you missed the book signing this past Saturday at Bushtukah, it’s well worth a visit to Bushtukah to buy the book, “Kilimanjaro – A Purposeful Journey.” My husband and I came back from Kilimanjaro two weeks ago. We did the same route with Tusker Trail, the same tour company  the Kilimanjaro grannies went with. We bought their book before we left for our climb and are we ever glad we did! The photos are terrific, and reading their adventures certainly gave us a lot of insight as to what we could expect on our trip. Proceeds from the sale of their book help support the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign and the Snowy Owl AIDS Foundation.

Thank you to the Kilimanjaro grannies – your book was an inspiration for us every step of the way.  Judy Field, Mt. Kilimanjaro climber

I finished your book this p.m.   I started at 5:00 this am , I couldn’t sleep  ( I dreamt all night ) so got up and read for an hr. and went back to bed .  Did my stuff went for a long walk and all I could think of was how I wished I could have been with you guys…I was there ever step of the way. Got back and finished the book. What an experience you all went through together. I remembered one p.m. sitting in Nairobi  (1983 at a sunset) and being so fortunate to even see the top of Mt.Kili  ……it was not something you saw to often from there,  the top was always in the clouds.  I wondered what it would be like to be at the top. All of you gals (very young grandma’s by the way) helped put that into perspective………..to some point.

You all made such a difference for the African grandmothers and should be very proud of your journey and It will continue…
I loved the book and wish you all the best of luck with the sales of the book and if I can help out in any way ………please do not hesitate to call on me.  Gwen Webster, Volunteer and Supporter

Congratulations to all of you women climbers – you are an inspiration!!!  Patti Koeslag, Supporter and Founding member of Grands and Friends

I was thrilled to see the turnout last night.  Clearly your cause has appeal for many, many people. I did look over the book and was quite impressed with it. Congratulations on what you’re doing for all those people in Africa who aren’t as lucky as we here in Canada are.  You’re an inspiration! Dr. Robert Birnbaum, Broadview Travel Medicine Clinic

Gisele, it’s wonderful to hear of the success you’ve had with the book launch – congratulations!  What you and your friends have accomplished is truly remarkable.  The journey continues ….. Jennifer Hunter, Supporter

“Hello Kilimanjaro Grandmothers!  Congratulations and thank you for organizing such a lovely book launch last night.  I was honoured to be there, and so moved to hear you read your stories out loud and in your own words.  The book is truly another incredible feat!  So many beautiful photos, thoughtful details, and inspiring stories.  Your firm and deep commitment to each other and to African grandmothers was a strong and binding thread throughout.  I was so excited to bring the book back to the office and show it to everyone.  You may know that a few women in the audience expressed interest to me about starting their own grandmother group (I met them in the line to get your autographs!) so your courage has inspired others to do even more.  We can’t thank you enough for all that you do.  The grandmothers in Africa will certainly benefit from the success of your book, as you continue to inspire and mobilize us here at home.” Susan Mazza, Community Campaigns Liaison for the Stephen Lewis Foundation and guest speaker at the Book Launch.

“Thanks for being an inspiration to me and my daughter (what an eye opener for her….while it may sound like a negative comment her statement that ‘her grandmothers would never do something like this’ highlights that she got it—women can do way more than she thought).” Rossana DiMito, Volunteer and Supporter

“Our hearfelt congratulations on your book launch. We are so impressed with your efforts all along the way to complete this journey physically ,mentally  and spiritually.  What a lovely gift to the world.”  Sincerely,  Noreen from the Heron Seniors Centre

“What a great photo. Terrific undertaking. Way to go!”  Kris Riendeau – The Humm

I have always admired Stephen Lewis and his heroic efforts to bring the tragedy of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa to the attention of the United Nations’ member states through his role as UN Special Envoy for AID in Africa. Finding his efforts had fallen largely on deaf ears, he decided to form the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Enter the Grandmothers… and things really took off.

People ask me why I spent all that money to go to Africa, why didn’t I just donate the cost of my trip to the cause. My answer to them is “I will travel there regardless, and if I can raise awareness and funds for a very worthy cause by joining this particular group at the same time, then my trip will serve not only my undying desire to travel, but help the grandmothers, and ultimately the children, who live on the continent I have visited.’’ The more I travel the more dismayed I become over the disparity in living conditions, and the seeming nonchalance of many North Americans. Everyone can do something to make the world a better place for all. World Vision has also provided me a window on the developing world through the many children I have sponsored over the years, and I feel that the Grandmother to Grandmothers Campaign is a natural evolution of my involvement.

Volunteerism and fundraising for charity have always been an important part of my life. For 20 years, while working for the Geological Survey of Canada, I was involved with canvassing, organizing, and finally as an active member of the committee, which ran the entire United Way Public Service Campaign. I have been a Zone Captain, Team Captain, and Canvasser for the Canadian Cancer Society for 25 years. I have also canvassed door-to-door for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, March of Dimes, the Kidney Foundation, the Ottawa Food Bank, delivered Meals on Wheels and served on the South Keys/Greenboro Community Council for several years. Helping others is very rewarding, and I am pleased to be part of this new challenge, where I will be making a difference in the lives of the African grandmothers.

I have always been an active person, and my hobbies are mostly sports-related including biking, skiing, swimming, canoeing, working out at the gym, ballroom dancing, square dancing, and, of course, hiking and “mountain climbing.” The opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro was irresistible and within the realm of possibility. I put my name in to join this group and the rest is history.

As a geologist working for 26 years at the Geological Survey of Canada, I conducted a variety of laboratory studies on mineral deposits. My bibliography contains nineteen works on copper, lead-zinc, and uranium deposits ranging from a world distribution map to various co-authored publications. I retired in 1998 and started my second career in real estate. My husband, Marcel, and I are a team at Keller Williams Solid Rock Realty as well in our 39 years of marriage. We have two sons, Christian and Yves, a daughter-in-law, Katherine and a baby grandson, Matias. I also have a lovely daughter, Lesley.

At 53-years-old, I am not yet a grandmother but hope to join those ranks someday. When we discussed the cost of the trip, helping these destitute women was the only justification that we needed, as we would never have considered spending this kind of money otherwise.

My two children were with me every step of the way. Sarah-Jane, my 29-year-old daughter is practicing law for a Toronto law firm, and James, my 17-year-old son is now in his last year of high school and wants to be a mechanic. I work full-time in the community as a Registered Practical Nurse.

I can remember when the AIDS pandemic began years ago, not long after I took a course called “Understanding AIDS” at Algonquin College. I remember thinking “no one should have to live or die with this terrible virus, and the stigma around it.” Since then we have come a long way, with the education, treatment, prevention, and a better understanding of AIDS and its related illnesses. Unfortunately, though, in many parts of the world, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to take its toll on people like the African grandmothers. For me climbing Kilimanjaro is nothing compared to the day-to-day challenges the grandmothers of Africa face – these grandmothers have no choice in what affects them daily, but I chose to climb Kilimanjaro.

Fully aware of the dangers and hardships that lay ahead, I was inspired by the greater purpose of the climb. It would be an opportunity to raise awareness of the devastating effects of the AIDS pandemic sweeping sub-Saharan Africa. The current estimate of 11.6 million children orphaned by AIDS is projected to reach 18 to 20 million by the year 2010. The climb would also raise funds to support African grandmothers as they struggle to raise their orphan grandchildren alone and with few resources. In their senior years, these courageous African grannies have become mothers to their grandkids and often to other children who have nowhere else to go. They needed our help. They needed my help!

Mothers and grandmothers are special women. For the first seven years of my life, my family and I lived with my paternal grandma and the extended family, in a small village in Croatia where I was born. Grandma was my caretaker while my parents struggled to provide for my brother and me. I was lucky to have my grandma around to comfort me and to snuggle with for my afternoon naps and frequent overnights. My maternal grandmother was a stoic woman and a risk taker. After six years of marriage, my grandpa decided to emigrate from Croatia to Canada in search of his “pot of gold.” His dream of making it big and returning home to Croatia and to his wife and three children was interrupted first by the Great Depression and then the Second World War. Grandmother was left raising the family alone. Suitcase in hand, she courageously left her homeland in 1953, and joined her husband in Canada after some 35 years of separation. This opened the door for the rest of us to follow and make Canada our home.

My mom and grandmas, through their examples of courage, stamina, and commitment, contributed greatly to the person I am today. The entrepreneurial skills they passed down have served me well in various business ventures. Their spirit resonates within me and saw me through every step on Mount Kilimanjaro. I was motivated as well by thoughts of gratitude for my own good life and the encouragement and support of my family. I have been married for 41 years to my high school sweetheart. We have two daughters, a son and five grandchildren who continue to challenge me to be the best I can be.

The journey to the summit, often a struggle of mind over matter, taught me many invaluable lessons. Though my lungs were starving for air, my heart felt content and my soul was nourished. Standing proudly with my teammates on the crown of Africa, I celebrated knowing that our efforts would help African grandmothers in countless ways, most importantly by bringing the youngest generation hope for a healthier and brighter future. Just like my mom and grandmas were there as my foundation and my inspiration, my hope is that with my help the African grandmothers will be able to support and inspire their grandchildren. In some small way, we all made a difference and with your help, we can continue to do so.

I have a soft spot for orphaned children or those suffering from maladies of any kind. My son volunteered for fifteen months in a Haitian orphanage, which I visited while he was there. My eyes were opened to these poor, little souls bumbling along the best way they could, and these were the lucky ones. The unlucky ones weren’t in an orphanage. Children need care and fostering, and that is what the African grandmothers are dedicated to doing but with very few resources. As a mother and grandmother, it pains me to see children struggle. As well, I have become a sponsor of a very bright 16-yearold girl in Lesotho who otherwise could not go to school.

And then there was the thought of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, which is 5,895 metres (19,340 feet) high and the problems encountered by the significant altitude, including transitioning from tropical rainforest to snow and cold winds. The thought of bedding down in a tent each night of the trek was also daunting.

Many thoughts began racing through my mind. As a member of the Rideau Trail Hiking Club and having hiked from Ottawa to Kingston in the summer of 2005, I didn’t think the actual hike would be too much trouble and there are various strategies for coping with altitude sickness. Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro would be nothing in comparison to the challenges faced by the grandmothers.

I am an ordinary person – married for 39 years, lived in the same house for 38 ½ years, two children – a son and a daughter, one grandson and most recently a granddaughter, station wagon in the driveway, vegetable garden in the backyard. I worked for the municipal government of the former City of Nepean. Because I was under contract in the Mayor and Councillor’s offices, when the amalgamation of area municipalities occurred, my job evaporated. I’m retired – I have time.

A few days passed after reading the article and I found myself thinking about this mission more and more. I decided to e-mail Gisèle to ask her if she needed help with her crusade. I received a reply asking me which part, the fundraising here at home or the climb. I replied “both”. We met to discuss it. By helping the grandmothers, it would be the orphans who would ultimately benefit, which in turn would ricochet in countless directions. I thought it over again and there I was, ready to pitch-in to help those African grandmothers any way I could!

For some years, I volunteered for Help-the-Aged (Canada) with the Adopt-a-Gran (AAG) Program. Having traveled to Kenya, as well as Jamaica, on behalf of this excellent organization, I had become keenly aware and increasingly troubled by the inequality that exists in our world. Women and children are at the forefront of this inequality and consequently, suffer untold misery every day of their lives. In my work with the Grans, I was humbled by the resiliency, the determination, the generosity, and the love and caring of the men and women I met. Many of them were struggling to look after their grandchildren orphaned because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Fortunately, those sponsored through the AAG Program sometimes received extra help for the children.

The paths of my life resemble the biblical story, “A Coat of Many Colours.” I’ve worn many coats: waitress, secretary, dance instructor, photographer, journalist, farmer, children’s farm program operator, antiques dealer, real estate saleswoman, tearoom and B & B owner. Add to the list, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. All of these “coats” have given me joy as well as a lot of hard work. Going to Kenya for the first time to work with the elderly, destitute and often ill people, I knew that all my previous experiences would help me in what I was to encounter there.

In August 2006, I attended the “Grandmothers to Grandmothers Gathering,” hosted by the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) in Toronto, which coincided with the HIV/AIDS conference there. The SLF brought one hundred grandmothers from many countries in Africa to meet, mingle, brainstorm, dance, laugh and cry with over two hundred Canadian grandmothers. This inspiring event was like a pebble in a pond, creating ever-enlarging circles here as well as in Africa. Through workshops, we learned much from one another. We wanted the African grannies to tell us what they needed and how we could help. We marched through downtown Toronto to the CBC, with banners, singing, chanting and hugging one another. As I looked back and all around me in that diverse crowd, I couldn’t help thinking that this was surely a “moment in time”…something that would go on being and doing and giving for a long time. To date it surely has.

As a young child my adoption by a generous and loving couple in their ‘60s, changed my life. Even at a young age, their values became my values. My mother worked tirelessly for those less fortunate. One of her tasks through her work with the Women’s Auxiliary, was helping to assemble bales of goods for needy people, particularly those in the Canadian North. I recall going with my Dad to the train station in Ottawa to ship the bales.

Many things contribute to my desire to help others. One is a selfish one, as I love to travel, but I also love a challenge. My writing and photography fits neatly into the equation as well. What’s left is a desire to do something meaningful and to help those less fortunate and in doing so, to learn more about the world around me.

 If you had told me a couple of years ago when I became a grandmother, for the first time, that I would be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro at 55, I would have been stunned speechless.

In October 2007, I lived the experience of my lifetime by climbing the world’s highest freestanding mountain in the heart of Africa – Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.

I accepted the challenge from my husband, Michael, who one day in late February 2006 said “… you keep talking about doing it (climbing Mount Kilimanjaro) so what’s stopping you?” My husband suffered a massive stroke on March 31, 1999, which has confined him to a wheelchair ever since. This life-altering event put a major kink in any plans for our future travels, our most cherished shared pleasure. Undaunted, we managed a 21-day South American cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Santiago, Chile in February 2000. Then in 2002, we shared a two-week family trip with our two adult children and their spouses to Disney World, Florida. Unfortunately, Michael’s condition has caught up with us, and so we have had to put aside our lifetime goal of setting foot on all seven continents.

I wasn’t keen on pursuing this aspiration on my own, but faced with Michael’s words and faith in me I took him up on his dare and agreed to go (for both of us). It didn’t take much research to see that this was not going to be “a walk in the park” and that a lot more good could come of this adventure than mere self-gratification. I decided to make this journey in memory of my brother, Michel who died of AIDS in 1995, and not wanting to arrive in Africa empty-handed, I started looking for a cause to direct my fundraising efforts. Because of Africa’s pandemic and my brother’s death, I decided to focus on the ongoing battle of those suffering from or affected by the HIV/ AIDS virus.

Narrowing down the field of possible charities was a daunting task but on March 6, 2006, I saw two African Grandmothers interviewed on Canada AM. They described their life and explained how thousands upon thousands more grandmothers at home faced the same daily struggles to survive. This was the launch of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign to raise awareness and funds, which they distribute through non-governmental organizations at the grassroots-level in Africa.

Blessed with the joys of grandmotherhood, I desperately wanted to help. It broke my heart to see destitute women, who are supposed to be in their golden years, face raising their grandchildren after having nursed and buried their own children who died of HIV/AIDS. I had found what I was looking for, and had to figure out how to present my project to garner the Foundation’s acceptance. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about as the Foundation was thrilled to hear of my project and support.

As the months flew by and the fundraising gathered momentum, the media interest also grew. Five Ottawa-area women decided to join me on my journey: Liza Badham, a great-grandmother from Fitzroy Harbour; Trudy Stephen, a grandmother from Nepean; Tina Cuerrier, a mother from Arnprior; Barbara Carriere, a grandmother from Kanata; and her cousin-in-law, Janet Carrière from Ottawa, who just recently became a grandmother as well.

These women have enriched my life by giving me the confidence to continue pursuing seemingly impossible challenges. I will forever be indebted to them for embracing my vision and cause.

Liza’s Story

 

Trudy’s Story

Tina’s Story

Tina Cuerrier and Family

Barb’s Story

Barbara Carriere

Janet’s Story 

This is a very special walk for Gisèle as June 13th would have been her brother Michel’s 54th birthday. She will be walking in his memory once again. Our goal is to raise $500.00 or $20.00 per kilometre but we can’t do it without your help!

We can assure you that the funds are going directly to the grassroots in Africa, where community-based projects are doing so much to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS. Just click on the Solidarity Walk Sponsor link and it will take you to the Participants page. Type Gisele in the First Name search box and click on Sponsor or Gisele Lalonde Mansfield to make a donation.

Your generosity would be greatly appreciated and no amount is too little.  If you aren’t able to make a donation at this time, you can support this cause by sending this request to friends, family or colleagues.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and continued support.