Centenarian still going strong
Armed with a walking stick for balance, her eyes heavy with cataracts and speckled red with blood vessels that burst long ago, Ntokoso Jonas shuffles slowly to her verandah to escape the looming rain.
This year, she’s not sure when, Jonas turns 100.
She will not celebrate the century landmark; after all, she’s never had a birthday party before, why start now?
Born and bred in Mmadinare, her identity card gives her birth date as xx-xx-1924 – the same year Mahatma Gandhi was released from prison, Jan Smuts was voted out of power in South Africa and Huddersfield Town were champions of England!
Seated beside two young relatives – one is separated from Jonas by five generations – at their home in Matsiloje, where she relocated in 2010, Jonas takes a slurp of water before starting her story.
She is the go-to girl for healthy aging and longevity tips in the area.
Although her legs are not as steady as they once were, Jonas is still mobile and able to get around; indeed, she continues to wash her own clothes and dishes.
The old woman begins by mentioning her childhood sweetheart, Jack Mabutho, to whom she bore one child.
Jonas has outlived both, Mabutho passing away many moons ago followed by their daughter, who died in 1999, leaving behind two children.
“When I arrived here [in Matsiloje], I built a small shack where I stayed with my grandchildren. We got lucky and found a plot here in Letsiriane and made another shack here.
“God being God, we were blessed with a two-and-a-half house by Tati Mine employees, where I sleep with my small family today. We are poor but I thank God we have somewhere to put our head at night,” says Jonas, who has spent her entire 100 years in Botswana and has never journeyed beyond the country’s borders – not even to Zimbabwe, which is less than 5km away.
“I’ve never had a passport,” she explains.
The great-great-grandmother puts her long life down to four things: the will of God, healthy eating, an active lifestyle and drinking traditional medicine.
She sees no need for a medical card as she never gets sick.
“As you see, I am healthy. I do not have any disease. The youngsters have sugar diabetes, high blood pressure but I do not have that. I think it is because I grew up drinking traditional medicine. It is just that nowadays I cannot walk a long distance, I could be digging some for my great grandchildren.”
Recalling her youth, days she remembers with vivid clarity, Jonas mentions learning how to make mud houses, fetching thatching grass and milking cows.
With a smile that exposes her missing teeth, the wrinkled centenarian has fond memories of playing koi, mmele and telling stories around a big fire.
“We ate wild fruits like moretologa, moretwa, morula and mmilo. My favourites were lerusa and lerothela, the ones we dug underground in the bushes.
“It was very safe in the past, unlike now. We were able to go to the dense bushes alone to look for the wild fruits. I was hyper active in my youth days; maybe that is why I lived this long. It is just that in our days we did not go to school, maybe I could have been educated and worked a high-paying job looking at the way I was,” reminisces Jonas with a rueful sigh.
Aching for the days of the past, the old timer notes life was simpler back then.
“It was cheaper, free of diseases and fun. These days to get anything, money has to be used. Back then, for us to get milk, we milked our cows. Bartering system was used a lot when I was a girl!”
When asked what her perfect birthday supper would be, Jonas responds immediately ‘rice and chicken’.
“It’s my favourite meal, but we don’t get to have it very often.”
She is also partial to a Monster Pop lollipop or two.
“I love them a lot,” grins the elder, her old eyes lighting up with childish excitement.