Statement made on 21 October 2009 by Senator Jane Cordy
Hon. Jane Cordy:
Honourable senators, I take this opportunity to highlight the good work of Global Relief Outreach Foundation of Canada. Global Relief Outreach, or G.R.O. Canada, is a Toronto-based NGO, which is currently operating in Lesotho, South Africa.
G.R.O. Canada's goal is to provide assistance to projects that are already in existence but lack the necessary resources and support needed to succeed. In Lesotho, G.R.O. is supporting projects that were initiated by local groups working in collaboration with development workers already living in their communities.
G.R.O. has three major projects in Lesotho: The Family Scholarship Fund and two social enterprise projects, Artisan's Collective and the Grandmothers Support Group.
The Family Scholarship Fund provides academic support to orphaned and vulnerable high school students affected by HIV and creates environments that encourage collaborative support, strengthening students as young advocates to join together in supporting each other and their communities.
For the Artisans Collective project, the G.R.O. Foundation has provided start-up capital and supplies, facilitates handicraft training for women living with HIV, and has connected them with business opportunities locally and abroad. Over the past year, the collective has become completely self-sufficient, facilitating business growth with their profits.
The third major project, the Grandmothers Support Group, is an initiative that was created to help sustain a local HIV home care operation, run almost exclusively by grandmothers. G.R.O. has worked closely with the "grannies group" to build a small poultry production business where profits are invested in health care kits that allow the grandmothers to provide, and expand, home-based health care services throughout their community. As part of G.R.O.'s sustainable social-enterprise model, this project has also become entirely self-sustaining.
G.R.O. was created in 2006 by Canadian development worker James White and two American counterparts, Jean Margaritis and Greg Felsen, with start-up financial support provided by Toronto businesswoman Sharon Oatway. Two of G.R.O.'s founders continue to live in Lesotho and work closely with the project partners. G.R.O. Canada is now also governed by a volunteer board in Canada, including Dr. Megan Landes, Terry Aldebert, James White and by a volunteer executive team. The Canada-based G.R.O. operations team acts as secondary advisers to local projects, primarily focusing on linking local groups with international resources and maintaining the trust of donors through project follow-up.
As G.R.O. continues its work in Lesotho, Canada, the United States and throughout the world, they continue to guarantee that 100 per cent of donated funds are sent directly to Lesotho for direct project support and to benefit the project partners of the communities they engage in. G.R.O. Canada seeks to extend its mandate and mission throughout the world's developing communities, committing to global development initiatives that respect cultural differences, provide direct and tangible support and link the people of Canada with projects making real difference in struggling communities everywhere.
Representatives of G.R.O. will be on the Hill this week. I look forward to meeting with them, and I encourage other interested senators to do the same.