Hi lovelies. December is the Month of Giving (aka Nifty Gifty Month) at Sewing Patterns by Mrs H. To kick the month off, we’re starting with an overview of UJAMAA GRANDMAS – a fantastic group of ladies who give their time, talents and supplies to raise money for charity. We’ll also be profiling some of the ladies later in the month.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, UJAMAA GRANDMAS raises funds for children in Africa who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS, and the grandmothers who care for them. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has decimated families and communities across Africa, leaving children to be cared for with scarce resources by their grandmothers or other community members who never anticipated having to take on child-rearing responsibilities a second time. UJAMAA GRANDMAS support the Stephen Lewis Foundation, which provides funding to grass-roots community-based projects in sub-Saharan Africa. 

What is now UJAMAA GRANDMAS started in 2004 when Ellen Monaghan put her sewing skills to work to make purses for sale at craft fairs. Ellen decided that the profits from this venture would go to charity. Over time, more and more people joined Ellen to make purses (at first as Purses for Africa) and later a whole variety of other items. The first stand-alone handcrafts sale was in 2006 and the group also ventured into new areas for fundraising. There are now around 500 members. 

The charity Ellen selected to benefit from her sales was the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Stephen Lewis was the United Nations' Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and had brought world attention to the crisis unfolding in Africa due to the pandemic. In 2006, the Stephen Lewis Foundation created the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. The Campaign is composed of community groups such as Ujamaa Grandmas; primarily women of 'grandmotherly' age, who understand the huge demands this responsibility places on the African grandmothers, who empathize with them, and feel motivated to support their struggles to improve their lives and their communities. 

More information about the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign can be found on line at http://www.stephenlewisfoundation.org/get-involved/grandmothers-campaign

  

So how does UJAMAA GRANDMAS raise money? There are two major fundraisers each year; a Fabric & Yarn Sale and a handcrafts sale. Each spring we solicit donations of fabric, yarn, and related supplies, and in April we sell them to eager sewers and knitters in Calgary and the surrounding area. From these donations, we also obtain fabric and yarn that we distribute to our members who then produce handcrafted items for our Bags, Babies & Beyond sale in October. These two fundraisers now bring in almost $100,000 per year. We have also managed smaller fundraisers such as a fashion show, and an annual bake sale. In addition, we have a Speakers’ Bureau that provides presentations to various local groups to raise awareness and to encourage donations in our name to the Foundation. 

There are almost 500 members of UJAMAA GRANDMAS in total. Whilst the members are all women, several men volunteer at our events. Around 150-200 of the members create various items for the Bags, Babies & Beyond sale including:

For a fun look at the fabric sale, please do watch the video below!

To date, we have raised almost $1 million. Our target for this, the tenth year of the Grandmothers' Campaign, is to hit the $1 million and we are almost there! This amount includes funds raised directly by us through our sales and events plus donations generated by the Speaker’s Bureau. Because the need is ongoing, once we reach our target we will set another target and keep on raising funds.

If you’d like to, you can support us in many different ways: 

If you’d like more information and depending on what you’re interested in, you can contact us at the following email addresses.

Keep an eye out later in the month for more from UJAMAA GRANDMAS!