Upcoming 2021 Events
Next General Meeting on Zoom is Tuesday August 10 at 1:30
Please feel free to invite your friends to VG4A's Summer Craft Sale, although we will not be advertising this sale widely.
2021 Cycle Tour
Celebrating 15 years
of the VG4A Cycle Tour
August 14th to September 10th
Victoria Grandmothers for Africa celebrates 15 years of its annual Cycle Tour!
It is not only the 15 year celebration of our cycle tour but also the 15 year anniversary of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We truly have lots to celebrate in 2021!
Cycle Tour 2021 has the goal of raising awareness and funds to support the grandmothers of sub-Saharan Africa as they look after grandchildren orphaned by HIV and AIDS. The cycle tour is a great a way for women over 55 years to meet other women, get exercise, become educated about our African sisters, and have some fun.
Our tour runs from August 14th to September 10th. This virtual tour format is a tour of sub-Saharan Africa. Each person commits to a personally challenging distance and rides any kind of bike -- regular bike, stationary bike, e-bike -- in a location of their choice. Each week the participant submits her distance and this is plotted on a map of sub-Saharan Africa.
We welcome novice and seasoned riders. We have a riding group suitable for any rider and if you don’t have someone to ride with, we can organize a riding group for you. You can also find training rides of different lengths at the link below. Monday morning rides in July and early August will gradually increase in distance and will be open only to cyclists who have already registered for the tour. Registration for 2021 closes on July 31.
For more information please contact Cynthia Cosulich (Registrar) at VG4Acycleregistrar@gmail.com.
Victoria Grandmothers for Africa celebrates 15 years of its annual Cycle Tour!
It is not only the 15 year celebration of our cycle tour but also the 15 year anniversary of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We truly have lots to celebrate in 2021!
Cycle Tour 2021 has the goal of raising awareness and funds to support the grandmothers of sub-Saharan Africa as they look after grandchildren orphaned by HIV and AIDS. The cycle tour is a great a way for women over 55 years to meet other women, get exercise, become educated about our African sisters, and have some fun.
Our tour runs from August 14th to September 10th. This virtual tour format is a tour of sub-Saharan Africa. Each person commits to a personally challenging distance and rides any kind of bike -- regular bike, stationary bike, e-bike -- in a location of their choice. Each week the participant submits her distance and this is plotted on a map of sub-Saharan Africa.
We welcome novice and seasoned riders. We have a riding group suitable for any rider and if you don’t have someone to ride with, we can organize a riding group for you. You can also find training rides of different lengths at the link below. Monday morning rides in July and early August will gradually increase in distance and will be open only to cyclists who have already registered for the tour. Registration for 2021 closes on July 31.
For more information please contact Cynthia Cosulich (Registrar) at VG4Acycleregistrar@gmail.com.
Summer Social on August 25th
We are planning a summer social on Wednesday, August 25 at Willows Beach starting at 12:00. It will be a chance to see each other in person and welcome new members who joined VG4A during COVID. Bring your own chair and lunch. Details to follow but please put it on your calendar.
Past 2021 Events
July 17, 2021 Sale at Fort Commons
Jerusalema
CHEK news televised a VG4A team performing this viral dance on Willows Beach on June 17th.
Click above to enjoy!
photo credit: Jane Player
Virtual Walk 2021
Magical Mystery Tour
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
Magical Mystery Tour
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
What an amazing 6 weeks. Thank you to all the participants, donors, supporters and storytellers. We did what we set out to do; walk 15,000 kilometers in solidarity with the Grandmothers in Africa, have fun, and raise funds. Congratulations on all three. We walked 16,781 kilometers, we raised over $7,000, we made new friends, saw Africa through different lenses, and most of all, had fun doing it.
“We will not rest, until they rest.”
“We will not rest, until they rest.”
Events in 2020
Christmas Meeting and Social December 8, 2020
The pandemic wasn't going to stop our annual holiday celebration. Red sweaters and hats, reindeer ears and a song wound up our 2020 with laughter and smiles all round. Thank you to Linda Mills for rescuing Lisbie from her unintentional solo of The Holly and The Ivy, and to Laurie for letting us sing it properly -- together.
Here's a link to the excellent article prepared by Elizabeth McAuley that we shared in our Break Out Rooms. It's on Christmas traditions in seven African countries
Here's a link to the excellent article prepared by Elizabeth McAuley that we shared in our Break Out Rooms. It's on Christmas traditions in seven African countries
VIDEA's Fair Trade Fair 2020
VIDEA was virtual this year, and we were part of it! Congratulations to Carol, Orleen, Judy and all the Sales and Crafts team for their hard work preparing for this new venture. Camosun students Lily, Hannah, Logan, Adit and Nathan collaborated with VG4A as a class project, and we'd give them an A+ for creativity, skill and effort. BRAVO!
Fall YYJ Craft Crawl
Date: November 14, 2020
Time: 10 am to 4 pm
Place: 2228 Harlow St. (back yard)
Masks required!
Date: November 14, 2020
Time: 10 am to 4 pm
Place: 2228 Harlow St. (back yard)
Masks required!
2020 Cycle Tour - A virtual tour
Cycling sub-Saharan Africa
Cycling sub-Saharan Africa
!! We made the Globe and Mail !!
Globe and Mail features Victoria Cycle Tour
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-pitching-in-victoria-grandmothers-for-africa-group-holds-virtual-bike/
Globe and Mail features Victoria Cycle Tour
www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-pitching-in-victoria-grandmothers-for-africa-group-holds-virtual-bike/
Here is the team
See each team's route
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Stage 1 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Bukavu, Congo
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Stage 2. Bukavu, Congo to Karonga, Malawi
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Participants reflections
"Creativity Coming from Covid"
Laurie Wilson looks back on the most successful Cycle Tour ever
Laurie Wilson looks back on the most successful Cycle Tour ever
Stefa's poem
This is the Year that the Grannies Did Ride
This is the Year that the Grannies Did Ride
History of the VG4A Cycle Tours -- click here
by Jocelyn Green
by Jocelyn Green
Why Are We Riding? -- click here
by Lisbie Rae
by Lisbie Rae
Hear Stefa talk about
the 2020 Cycle Tour
in a radio interview
with Al Ferraby
on C-fax
Stefa Katamay, Chair of the 2020 Cycle Tour Working Group
Summer Covid Market
In the midst of a global pandemic, with strict limits on gatherings, how do you hold a successful market and fundraise for African grandmothers? Thanks to Elizabeth Sebesta and Lee Sixto you start by spreading out over two spacious yards, located across the street from each other. You invite members and friends to attend wearing face masks! Your market volunteers don face shields, record contact information and make sure that hand sanitizers are a prominent display item on every table. The result is a bit like a masked ball, as friends you haven’t seen in person for 6 months arrive to shop and visit briefly. (Thank goodness for voice recognition!) At the end of a “weather perfect” day your sales inventory is seriously depleted and you are thrilled to learn that you have raised over $3,500 in support of African grandmothers’ grassroots initiatives.
Market photo slideshow is here
Virtual Stride Walk 2020
raised over $9,250!
raised over $9,250!
This spring Victoria Grandmothers and friends walked their way across Canada and back visiting other SLF grandmother groups along the way.
Our Virtual Striders walked across Canada and back, over 21,755 km
Great news from the Campaign!
"Over the summer, we had dozens of virtual walks across the country that collectively raised a total of $260,000! This is the most Stride has raised since 2013! This year, Victoria Grandmothers for Africa raised an impressive Stride total of $9,250.00!"
Congratulations to all the walkers and organizers for such a successful result!
"Over the summer, we had dozens of virtual walks across the country that collectively raised a total of $260,000! This is the most Stride has raised since 2013! This year, Victoria Grandmothers for Africa raised an impressive Stride total of $9,250.00!"
Congratulations to all the walkers and organizers for such a successful result!
Granny Flash Mob
for
World AIDS Day
2018
Victoria grandmothers staged a Flash Mob in Mayfair Shopping Centre on Nov 18. Scott Sedman organized a team of videographers and photographers (Jurgen Harding, Robert Auger, Jane Player, Fil Giulioni) to record the surprise on shoppers' faces and the fun the dancers had. Our video then became part of a National Compilation video released in honour of World AIDS Day, December 1. Thank you to all the dancers, (especially Sarah Stubblefield for leading rehearsals and the dance) and also to the kanga wavers, cheerleaders, recorders, grandchildren, and Mayfair staff involved -- you rock!
Victoria Grandmothers for Africa © 2010.
