She welcomed me into her house with a hug.

We sat side by side on a couch with no cushions - just a wooden frame. I had been driven part way and then walked up to her village high in the hills of western Uganda. I was joining Norah on a home visit to Margaret's. Norah translated her story and the songs she sang for me.

 Margaret wasn't sure how old she was. She knew she was "snatched" at 14 - a practice where by she was taken away to marry a boy in another family group - maybe even another tribe and village.

Margaret had given birth to five boys and four girls. All but two have died. She didn't say it, but we knew it was from HIV/AIDS. Now she is looking after two orphaned granddaughters  - Sarah (6) and Patience (8).

It was evident that Margaret had vision problems - likely cataracts. When I showed her the picture I had taken of her on my digital camera, she held the camera right up to her eyes. At that point she could see the image but she didn't recognize herself. I realized she had no mirrors in the house, no glass in the windows and not even a pool of water to see herself.

We sat - arms touching. Hers a long, sinewy, ebony arm. Mine a shorter, fleshy and slightly tanned arm. Through our translator, Margaret told me that this was the first time she had been in the presence of a white woman.

She said that when she was a child she had seen some white people but she and the other kids were afraid of them and ran away. Now she hugged me without any reticence. I concluded that it was due to the bond we grandmothers have through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

I was one of 12 Canadian women to travel to Africa to visit grandmothers earlier this year, to hear their stories and tell them to Canadians in order to raise awareness and funds to help them face all the challenges they face raising the orphaned children.

Sometimes they are blood relatives but sometimes they are grandchildren of friends and neighbours. 

Grandmothers are truly the cement that holds Africa together these days.

Note: I have committed to do presentations about my experience in my community. For more information call 519-599-2442.