Congratulations Team, over the past 8 weeks we exceeded our distance goal (5653 kms) by Striding 6082 kms and surpassed our fundraising goal ($1000) by raising $1695 to date.

The Stride 2021 Team is back home in the Comox Valley where the Glacier Grannies hosted the Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibition at the Muir Gallery June 18-26, 2010 and at the Pearl Ellis Gallery Jan 19-31, 2011. Thank you to the VI grannie groups that hosted the tour & continue to collaborate on fundraising projects: Victoria Grandmothers for Africa, Salt Spring Grand(m)others, Nanaimo Nan-go Grannies, Port Alberni PAGO’s, Oceanside Grandmothers to Grandmothers, Merville Grand Mothers (MGM’s), and Campbell River Grandmothers.

The Glacier Grannies and the Snowbirds send you a beautiful heart in the sky to express our gratitude for your generous support for Stride 2021.

At the end of Week 7 of our Western Canadian Stride Team adventure we were back on VI after travelling another 687 kms for a total of 5403 kms. (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)

We arrived in New Westminster where the Royal City Gogos hosted the Turning the Tide Exhibition at the River Market, Dec 1-6, 2010. This dynamic group went on to produce the inspiring multimedia art exhibition and commemorative book, “Celebrating African Grandmothers, Heroes of the Continent” that toured Western Canada in 2012. Their current projects include Solidarity in Action Fitness Challenge, the Artisan Craft Sale in July, and cycle training for the Solidarity Cycle in Sept. Royal City Gogos or on Facebook @royalcitygogos2

Our energetic team has now covered 4716 kms, adding another 755 kms this week on our journey. We have almost reached Kelowna where the textile art exhibition was hosted by the Kelowna Grandmothers for Africa at the Kelowna Grand Hotel from Oct 4-7, 2010.

We are walking in solidarity with our African sisters. One of the beautiful textile art pieces that represents this sisterhood so clearly was created by Myrtle Schmidt who moved from Lethbridge AB to Victoria BC. (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)

"Turning the Tide" Artist: Myrtle Schmidt

This week we logged 828 kms as we turned west to begin our long trek back to BC. (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)

Noreen Duncan, the organizer of the Winnipeg Exhibit has shared her memories and numerous photos with us.

In recent years, Grands ‘n’ More Winnipeg’s annual project, “Warm Up to Winnipeg”, has been a great win-win-win fundraiser. Knitters around Winnipeg have been generously donating scarves to Grands ‘n’ More for several years. Grands ‘n’ More volunteers have been wrapping and taking these scarves to sales and events around the city and “selling” them to the public. Instead of taking the scarf home with them, the buyer signs their name on a tag and the scarf is then donated to Welcome Place to help keep a new refugee warm through their first Winnipeg winter. The funds raised go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Over the nine years this “little” project has been running, over 3,200 scarves have been donated to Welcome Place and approximately $31,000 has been donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

To learn more about the tremendous Support shown by Winnipeg click on the following link.

Winnipeg’s Noreen Duncan Remembers the Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibition

This week we traveled the last of the Kms east to Winnipeg. (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)The Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibition was held at The Bay in Downtown Winnipeg, October 12-17, 2010, and at The Brandon Art Gallery, October 18-23. The wonderful poster advertising the event was distributed and displayed widely:

(Click on images center and right below for more details about these pieces)

We are now heading west to begin our long trek back to BC.

Reflections by Ujamaa Grandma, Yvonne Way

This week we logged another 741 kms and are nearing our most easterly destination, Winnipeg. (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)

As we stride across the Prairies, we are reflecting on our time in Calgary.

Yvonne Way, a longtime member of the Calgary Ujamaa Grandmas, sent her reflections on the 2010 Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibit:

"I have a long thread of good memories associated with the "Turning the Tide… one ripple at a time"  Textile Art Exhibition that toured Western Canada. I was keen to view the exhibit when it visited Calgary on October 27th - 29th, 2010 as I am a quilter, and I love to dabble in various other creative adventures. The exhibit was a stunning collection of exceptional art, showcasing the fascinating continent of Africa, but it was more than just an art display. When admiring all the creativity that went in the pieces you could feel the connection the artists’ had with the people of Africa, and their deep concern for their welfare. My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed spending hours taking in every detail of the pieces on display.

Some time after that, my brother, who lives in Victoria, sent me a copy of the book by the same name, published by the Glacier Grannies in 2010. It included a very special invite.

I decided even though it meant a plane ticket on my part I just couldn’t miss this opportunity! The result was, in March of 2011 my brother generously hosted a table at the gala and art sale in the Victoria Conference Center, with Stephen Lewis in attendance. A family member filled every seat! By the end of the evening those family members had bought FOUR pieces of the art! I was ecstatic and humbled that my family would support something so dear to my heart.

The evening was a highlight of my year and this was not only because of my families generosity and the success of your project but because the Stephen Lewis Foundation was especially significant to me. You see I had been one of the 40 grandmothers and grand ‘others’ chosen from across Canada in 2010 to travel to Swaziland and South Africa with the foundation! I marched beside the African grandmothers on their soil, holding their hands, doing what I could to draw worldwide attention to their plight.

I was able to reconnect with some of the Canadian grandmothers that I had travelled in Africa with at the gala, it was such a delight to see them again, and it made the evening even more memorable. “Turning the Tide… one ripple at a time” Textile Art Exhibition has left lasting ripples of joy and success that still resonate across parts of Canada and certainly across sub-Saharan Africa.

On the day I left Swaziland one African grandmother approached me and fervently whispered…”Don’t forget us…please don’t forget us…” and the Glacier Grannies are certainly not forgetting their African sisters. Thank you for all that you do."

Yvonne Way

(Click on each of the four images below for more details about these pieces)

In our first week we have walked, run, cycled, and zumba’d across 776 kms. We have already ”travelled" across the water on 3 ferries, “visited" the Sunshine Gogos in Powell River, Richmond Gogos in Richmond, and CanGo Grannies in Kamloops, “walked" through Sorrento, and are well on our way to Calgary! (Hover cursor over map to see progress to date.)

The CanGo Grannies hosted the Turning the Tide Textile Art Exhibition Sept 23-26, 2010 in Kamloops and Oct 1-3, 2010 in Sorrento.