Fit as a fiddle after 101 years

ITUMELENG TSHENYEGO
Correspondent | Thursday June 13, 2013 00:00

 

MATHANGWANE: As Sediba Munyadzwe sweeps her yard, it is hard to believe that she was born over a century ago.Though she is now 101 years old, she is still as fit as a fiddle. Munyadzwe was born and bred in Mathangwane. She had four younger siblings who have all passed on. The centenarian says that her generation has lived long because they did not engage in sexual intercourse at an early age. She says that during her teenage days, women did not engage in sexual relationships at early age like today.

'During my teenage days, it was taboo to engage in sexual relationships. Today the situation is totally different.Even school going kids are involved in sexual relationships,' says the bubbly granny.She adds: 'Back in our days, we respected 'Ndapo' (a cultural practise whereby females sustained their virginity until marriage). In the olden days, girls were examined for virginity. Elders would know when one would have lost their virginity. 'They made sure that no one engaged in sex before marriage'.

According to Munyadzwe abstaining from sex before marriage ensured one led a healthy life which she attributes to the exceptional longevity of her life and that of her contemporaries. She says that her other secret to long life is that she has never smoked and drunk alcohol.'I am a devoted Christian. Prayer is my daily bread. I used to travel to Zimbabwe for church services but since last year, I stopped because I would come back tired because of the distance,' says Munyadzwe, a devout member of the Dikemiso Gutarangwari Church in Mathangwane.She knows that her husband passed away in 2002 but she cannot remember how old he was. She never went to school but subsisted on farming throughout her life. ÒI have been a farmer throughout my life.

I take pride in having a large number of livestock that includes goats, sheep and cattle. I raised my children with the produce I got from my field,' says Munyadzwe.She describes her favourite drink as one that is in a red can and tries very hard to recall the name. 'I love it very much. Oh! Yes, Coke, that is what it is called. It is very sweet,' she says with a chuckle. Her favourite food is Mabele (Sorghum). She says none of the people she grew up with are still alive but her earnest wish is for God to give her many more years. With her late husband who was a soldier, she had 12 children, four of whom have since passed on. 'We are also blessed with 101 grand-children and great grand-children,' she says.

Munyadzwe currently lives with her youngest daughter, Lechani Bonang 56, who describes her mother as an active participant in household chores and a stern disciplinarian. 'She insists on doing the laundry and sweeps the yard very often to keep fit. She is also strict with the children and they listen to her when she talks,' says Bonang.