Pursuit / spring 2011 - Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education ...

Photo courtesy of Carolyn Nixon
SuppoRT SySTem
a leSSon In leanIng on each oTheR
A doZen or So Zulu women have
gathered under a tree and are exchanging
greetings and hugs. Bologna sandwiches
are passed around, and protein porridge
for those who need an extra boost.
One woman begins to sing, and the rest
follow, standing up to stomp their feet
and dance with abandon. The mood takes
a slow shift, and talk turns to the issues
at hand: medical problems, personal
issues, violence in the home, financial
concerns, elder abuse. These are the
struggles that face the women of South
Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, down
in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. They
have come together to commiserate, to
share their stories and their knowledge,
and to keep each other strong. They are
18 Pursuit / spring 2011
“Gogos” – Zulu for “grandmothers” – and
their common bond is HIV/AIDS and its
horrible legacy: the countless orphaned
children who have been left for their
grandmothers to raise.
The women are often joined by Carolyn
Nixon (PHE 6T1), who leaves her
Toronto home for a few months every
year to give the Gogos some TLC.
The meeting ends with more singing
and dancing – what Nixon calls “very
vigorous hymns.” The women return
to their homes, Nixon to her rented
one-room cottage. Life goes on, but
with minds and spirits renewed. “The
meetings always become a ‘happening,’”
says Nixon. “They’re fabulous!”
These support groups are the brainchild
of Nixon and Zulu nurse Cwengi Myeni.
The duo first met in summer of 2006
when, on the heels of its newly-launched
Grandmothers to Grandmothers
campaign, the Stephen Lewis Foundation
held a conference for 100 Zulu and 200
Canadian grandmothers. A first-time
grandma herself, Nixon was moved to
get involved. The gathering was meant
to spark connections that would foster
ongoing Canadian support, and for Nixon
and Myeni the connection was immediate.
The following year, on a self-funded
mission, Nixon was on the ground in
South Africa, working at the Hillcrest Aids
Centre Trust on the outskirts of Durban