Turning the Tide ... One Ripple at a Time

In 2008, the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness (NIQFCA), a group of textile artists in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, donated their textile art collection “Who Will Plant the Seeds of Hope?” to a series of art shows sponsored by the Merville Grand Mothers in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

The artists were delighted with the public’s response to their work.  The shows had outstanding attendance, with some viewers returning three times.  People absorbed the significance of the messages embedded in the artwork.  More than $100,000.00 was raised from the auction of the quilts, and sale of books, cards and posters, which was forwarded to the Foundation.

This inspired some of the local artists, and guest artists from as far away as Winnipeg, to create a second collection, which will be donated to The Glacier Grannies in the Comox Valley.  This beautiful collection is called “Turning the tide” to highlight the current focus of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  The Glacier Grannies added “One Ripple at a Time” to emphasize that Turning the Tide of the AIDS pandemic is done incrementally.  The generosity of Canadians – as individuals, as faith communities, as grandmother groups – has funded more than 300 grassroots organizations who support families, grandmothers and communities dealing with the impact of the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa.

The collection will be exhibited in various cities and centres in British Columbia and Western Canada until March 2011, culminating in a Grand Gala in Victoria in March 2011, when the collection will be auctioned off.

The collection will be in Winnipeg October 12-17th, in The Bay downtown, 6th floor Gallery, available for viewing during regular store hours.  Other events have also been planned for this week.  On Thursday, October 14th, MPQ will be hosting an evening with Marie Box who will talk about the inspiration for the collection and techniques used to create the hangings.

The book “Turning the Tide”, which features each of the 52 pieces in the collection and a brief precis about the artists will be available for sale at the event, along with cards and other craft items. Proceeds from these sales and all donations from the viewing public will be forwarded to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Grandmother’s Campaign.  Tax receipts are available for donations of $20 or more.  Advance copies of the book are available from Noreen Duncan, 772-0631 for $25.

The grandmothers of Africa are the unsung heroes of the continent.  First they bury their own children, who have died of AIDS, and then these women begin to parent again, raising their grandchildren with little or no support.  At the time of the 16th Annual International AIDS Conference in Toronto in August 2006, 200 grandmothers from 11 sub-Saharan countries met with 200 Canadian grandmothers for three days.  At the conclusion of the conference, the African grandmothers made an appeal for enabling help: to ensure the health, safety and education of their grandchildren and provide opportunities for regular incomes and economic independence.  The Canadian grandmothers responded, and the Grandmother to Grandmother Campaign was thus born.  There are now over 200 Grandmother Groups across Canada who have raised more than $7 million for projects in Africa that support everything from income generation to school fees for children, clean water to grief counselling, vegetable gardens to capacity building.

Turning the Tide...One Ripple at a Time combines art, artistry and commitment.  The quilters and the Glacier Grannies believe deeply that the tide of AIDS pandemic can be reversed at the community level and that with enough funding, the projects supported by the Stephen Lewis Foundation are on the precipice of creating major change right across Africa.

Titles and Designers: One Bowl, One Future by Val Hazelton, Draw the Circle Wide by Noreen Duncan, Stitching Brighter Tomorrows by Judy Morningstar