its a long way to malawi

My first time to Malawi Africa was with my husband and 20 members from our church. I was apprehensive about going and yet full of an adventurous anticipation. Malawi did not dissappoint me. The smells, the sunsets, and the people of Africa are life giving. They are people who receive graciously and give what they have abundantly.

Our group was going to partner with a ministry called Somebody Cares (somebodycares malawi africa)


I've been to Malawi, Africa 3 times. Each time has been moving, memorable and mostly impacting. Meeting the people of Malawi, hearing and learning about their trying lives has made me more unsettled about my life and what kind of impact I am making in the world. The statistics of the rampant HIV epidemic in Africa as a whole and specifically Malawi is mind blowing. There are a million orphans in Malawi alone, some taken in by the widows, (young women and grandmothers), while others are left on their own(vulnerable children). Unfortunately being the 12th poorest nation in the world it is difficult to feed, clothe and educate all of these little ones. I admired the Gogos or grandmothers who took in sometimes 5 or 6 other children to take care of. These Gogos barely have enough for themselves but the Malawian people care very much about their tribal communities and have a desire for these orphans to grow in their own culture and environment. I admire these courageous women and I love their name! Gogo! and after going 3 times I have made some lasting Gogo friends. So hence, I adopted the name Gogo:)

Read more about Gogos and orphans and what you can do to help at http://wowmission.com/ and http://visionledd.com/

what's with the name....?

Gorgeous Grandma Day....its actually a real day to celebrate. There's also a national chocolate day,a cheesecake day, a send your sibling a greeting day and just about anything else you want to celebrate "day". When I looked at my calendar in July of 2007 and saw July 23 was Gorgeous Grandma Day I thought... perfect and hey we're all pretty darn gorgeous. That will be the official day. So the 23rd of every month we try to come together. There are so many grandmas out there with busy schedules that meeting on the 23rd guarantees at least one day you will get to come. The 23rd lands on a different day each month,so if you have a commitment on a thurs you just might make it to the next month on a wed. O joy!
We got rules too...but well that's for later.
Let's talk about names..grandma names to be exact...go go, nana, oma, marmee, mi mi,be be and good old grandma.I know there are many more and all so endearing....each one picked with love. Some were handed down from generations while others were dubbed from the mouths of infants in their attempt to call out to their beloved grand-one!How did I choose Go Go? Well I'll tell ya next time.....

how it all got started

In June of 2007, I went to the wedding of one of my friend's daughters. Her daughter was one of my son's peers from our home schooling days and of course many more of that community would be attending this ceremony also. So as it always goes at these milestones you hear the latest of whose child is engaged, who's getting married and who's having a baby! At the end of the reception and standing out in front of the church waiting for our husbands, five of my girlfriends and I all started jabbering at the same time about our precious grandchild, grandchildren or the one in the oven. We were all first time grandmas and boy was it obvious! You could hardly tell, hear or exclaim for all the excitement and stories!
For anyone that has known me for long I am a schemer. I am forever putting some kind of fun together in my mind with a purpose. I want to do things with you and you and you, but we have to do it with purpose! After getting home that night I started thinking about a grandmas club.... A place where grandmas could share pictures, stories and resources without interruptions! Everyone would have their turn. Yep that's it! A place to show off our grandbabies!
And so on July 23, 2007 we had our first "Gorgeous Grandma" day with a purpose!