Margaret Githinji
Margaret, 79, is a retired teacher and lives in Nairobi. She has five children and sixteen granchildren. She is the founder of Diamond Aged People Association in Kenya, which has been running since 2006, and has been a friend of HelpAge Kenya since 2010.
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Read more about Margaret below:
Education: I attended school between 1940 and 1947 in Murang'a County.
Family: I am a mother of five grown-up children, a grandmother of sixteen grandchildren and a great grandmotheer of one. My husband passed away when my children were young, in 1979.
Career: I worked as an untrained teacher for a year, starting in 1950. Afterwards, I got a job in a tailoring company but I had to stop working because my husband did not like the idea of me having a job. In 1964 I got another job as an office assistant where I worked until the arrival of my last born. After my maternity leave was over, my employer declined to take me back. Later on I got a job in a nursery school where I worked for 7 years as an assistant to the teachers until the headmistress recommended that I be promoted to a teacher and I worked until 1994, until my retirement age of 60.
Current situation: I live alone in a one bedroomed house in the oldest "phase" of Buru Buru Estate in Nairobi. I founded the Diamond Aged People Association (DAPA) in 2006. It brings together people aged 60 years and above to share experiences and support each other after retirement. Currently, DAPA has a membershop of 30 (26 women and 4 men) from ages 63 to 79 years old, and meets once a month.
As a friend of HelpAge Kenya since 2010, I have participated in planning meetings and have been a member of a delegation that visited the Minister for Gender that delivered a petition on cash transfer from older persons in Kenya for Age Demands Action campaigns.
Talent and skills: I am a motivational speaker and I make handicrafts and also sing in church. I have also written a book entitled 'It's Never Too Late.'
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Alinda Bosch (5th July 2013)
I watched an impressive video about Margaret, a retired teacher of 79, living in Kenya. She has been a widow since 1979 when her children were still young. She raised five children herself, and has 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. When she reached 60; she retired.
Being retired, having raised and educated all your children ... a typical Dutch reaction could be: well done, now it is time to relax, time for yourself and enjoy some peace and tranquillity. But Margaret says "living alone is not very easy" and she is not the kind of person to stop and sit around. On the contrary; her live is full of activity.
Margaret does not feel 79 and says she feels she has only lived half the life she planned for. This in my view very much characterises Margaret: She is ambitious, full of plans, and always active. The video shows me that this attitude is a source of happiness and satisfaction, both to yourself and to those in your immediate vicinity.
What can we learn from this? Perhaps it's our activities that keep our bodies going and our plans and dreams that keep our minds focussed and inspired? The gracious and strong lady discovered her talent as a writer at an older age. One is never too old to discover hidden talents, she says. Her motto could be "reveal your talents and use them".
But how did she reveal her talents? Perhaps the answers are to be found in her first book, her autobiography called "It is never too late". The video shows what pride and joy this has given her, both the process of writing and the achievement of finishing the book.
It's no surprise this woman wants older people to be more valued and judged not on the basis of age, but on their contributions to society. She and her fellow activists feel that it is thanks to older people that much has been achieved in Kenya, but many fail to appreciate their efforts.
Their message is honest and appealing. They are not begging for attention but demanding for more understanding, simply because it is their right. They feel that older people can still contribute a lot. And so right they are! Margaret herself would love to learn more about how to set up centres for older people. And I have no doubt she will manage to obtain and use all the necessary information and knowledge for that.
The future of older people in Kenya definitely definitely lies in their hands, that much is clear! If Margret is really only half way through her life now, as she says, then she will reach the impressive age of nearly 160! Perhaps 160 years is a bit optimistic... but I wish Margaret a bright future that is as fulfilling as her current life.