Hermelinda Novela
Hermelinda, 69, is retired stylist who lives in Mozambique. She is married and has 5 children. She has been an active participant in Age Demands Action since 2011, and has met with numerous senior policitians including the Prime Minister as part of the campaign.
She wants to live in a world where the rights of older people are respected and believes that despite some promising efforts by her Government to protect older people, there is still a long way to go.
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Read more about Hermalinda below:
“My name is Hermelinda Agostinho Novela. I am 69 years old, I am Mozambican and married to Luis Condula Manhique. We have 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys, 18 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren. I was a stylist by profession.
I would like to live in a world where I am respected and where I have rights, as I see that an older person is not respected by our society. The Government has helped older people a lot, but there is still a lot to do because there are still many older people who do not benefit from this Government support. An older person is a citizen equal to any other, therefore they must have rights and responsibilities equal to others too.
I participated in the ADA campaign in 2011, where we carried out various activities, one of which was a meeting with the Prime Minister, where we presented the message of older people. We also went to speak with the Minister of Women and Social Action. On 1st October, the international older peoples day we held a prayer service at the Church of Santa Monica in Tsalala.
It has been a motivation to work with the Government because the requests and concerns of older people are being listened to and the older people have become more organised and united. This is important because it helps us to fight for our rights. Mozambican society very much needs the support of other countries.
So we ask the European union to protect the rights of older people, their improvement and inclusion in their programmes.”