I HAVE NEVER SPENT A DAY IN HOSPITAL : 107-YEAR-OLD GOGO

Getting to 85 years in a country where life expectancy has dropped to below 55 is a rare feat. To get to 107 is an abundant blessing from God.

Mbuya Zvanetsa Mupinga notched 107 years on April 14, 2022. More unique is that Mbuya Mupinga can still walk and more so without a walking stick, do a bit of tendering in the garden and look after children when family members are out in the fields.

She stays in Mupinga Village under Chief Shumba in Masvingo Rural about 23 km from Morgenster Mission.

She has seen five generations to include her great-great-great grandchild and she has never been admitted in a hospital with an illness.

She has 123 great grandchildren. On Easter Saturday, Mbuya Mupinga’s granddaughter Mercy Zvanetsa Maeresera based in the UK and named after the paternal grandmother that she loves so much, threw her a birthday party.

When she is happy Mbuya Mupinga, can sing, dance and be cheerful with her grandchildren and surviving children. She doesn’t want to get disappointed and she can sulk and refuse even to talk.

“I am happy to host a birthday party for my grandmother who turned 107 today. I am excited, she is a woman of virtue who brought up many people. I am proud that I was given her name. I may not be in Zimbabwe to join the celebrations but this is a great day for me and I am happy for her,” said Maeresera.

It was great a day for the family as they celebrated long life in the family. Villagers turned up for the event but Mbuya could not get her contemporaries, even those 30 years younger. That is the demonstration of the kind of long life that she has been blessed with.

There was fun and pomp as her grandchildren sang and danced to mark the birthday.

Her grandchild Zvanetsa Junior said there are a number of factors that could have contributed to Mbuya Mupinga’s long life. She said that it could be hereditary as her cousin Chikowore Museva celebrated his 110th birthday this year and he still can walk.

“But when I used to ask her she would tell me that she lived long because she always bathed using cold water. She led a very active life even into old age; cooking for herself, walking long distances, gathering firewood and carrying a pot of water from the well,” said Zvanetsa Junior.

Another unique thing about Mbuya Mupinga is that she inhaled snuff right from her middle ages. She drank traditional beer and she goes to the Dutch Reformed Church.

She was born on April 14, 1915.

 Shamiso Museva her great grandchild said her grandmother can still talk, but her eyesight is failing and is now struggling to walk. “We are happy as a family to host a birthday party for our grandmother who turned 107 today. We would also want to thank her namesake, Mercy for sponsoring this event and making it a success,” she said.

Absai Museva who is her brother’s son said he admired Mbuya Mupinga’s kind heart and how she has changed the lives of many people especially her relatives.

Mbuya’s young sister, Roseline Museva thanked Tatenda Mupinga (Mbuya’s son) and his wife for taking care of her sister. Roseline is the last born in Mbuya Mupinga’s family. Masvingo Mirror

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