Bulawayo to honour centenarians

Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporter
CENTENARIANS represent history, wisdom and morale and their tales of accomplishment as well as milestones highlight and magnify events of the past.

As a result, the Bulawayo City Council is inviting residents who are 100 years and older to register by Friday for them to be included in celebrations honouring centenarians that will take place this month-end.

Those eligible are required to send their names, addresses and dates of births to the town clerk’s office.

In a statement, Bulawayo’s Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube said all centenarians around Bulawayo are invited.

“We would like to celebrate the elderly community in a special way,” said the town clerk.

The Bulawayo City Council is working with SPA Community Trust to make the celebration a success.

Mrs Caroline Vundla Stackhouse, the director and co-founder of SPA Community Trust said even those in rural areas of Matabeleland region are welcome to attend the celebrations.

“We have a memorandum with the BCC and have asked them to locate the elderly for us from their database around Bulawayo.

”However, that does not mean those outside Bulawayo especially in rural areas are not invited.

“We have communicated with village heads and councillors from respective villages to help us identify centenarians around their villages,” she said.

Mrs Stackhouse added that they were targeting to get 100 centenarians from Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Bulawayo since they were celebrating 100 years.

However, if they are to get more than 100 centenarians, they will try by all means to accommodate all of them.

“If it happens that we get more than 100 centenarians we will make a plan because we do not want to leave anyone,” she said.

Mrs Stackhouse said only one member of the centenarian’s family will be able to attend and the event will not be open to the public.

“Partners and invited guests are the only ones who will be joining the centenarians.

“We will not open the event for the public as we want to give our centenarians the limelight,” she said.