Kaya 959 Reporter
Grandmothers play a very crucial role in raising children across South Africa.
There are many cases in society where due to unemployment, poverty and other circumstances, many young adults rely on their grandmothers to step in in the role of parenting.
goGOGOgo is a South African non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting grandmothers.
The organisation believes that grandmothers in society are agents of change, and believes in empowering them to promote meaningful, positive health outcomes for themselves, as well as children in their care and their communities.
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Phemelo Motene spoke to the founder of this non-profit organisation, Jane Simmonds, who holds a MA in Public Health.
The idea to start the organisation grew out of her many years spent working with older women in Alexandra, Gauteng.
Listen to the full conversation:
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Jane Simmonds spoke about why it was important to start the organisation saying it came from a realisation that grandmothers really needed help navigating the realities of raising children in the modern-day.
“I started the organisation to recognise the role grandmothers play in raising children in South Africa, there are over 4 million children in South Africa raised by grandmothers.”
“It is not easy for grandmothers to raise children for the second time, in fact, some grandmothers are now starting to raise great-grandchildren.
I did research for my Masters about 10 years ago in Alex and in my research I found out how grandmothers spoke to their children about sex, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, I found out just how much these grandmothers love their grandchildren and also how difficult it was to be a grandmother. Particularly how they tried to understand the changing world, social media, homework, school demands, clothing, transport and all these things that grandmothers have to provide for their grandchildren.” says Simmonds.
The organisation does numerous activities to support grandmothers in various communities, such as workshops, skills development and income-generating projects aimed at uplifting and empowering gogos and their communities.
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