•Some of the elderly people celebrating after they received some foodstuff.

BRIAN HATYOKA –

OLD people usually face many challenges in society ranging from social, economic and financial ones.
Most elderly people, especially those who are not in a position to sustain their lives, are usually abandoned by their own relatives and accused of being wizards.
In the Bible, according to Exodus 20: 12, young people arev encouraged to honor their parents so that they could live longer.
This biblical counsel is sometimes ignored and this has prompted some elderly people, who are lucky, to end up in old people’s homes which are supported by the Government.
Martha Banda, a Livingstone resident born in 1937, said there was need for society to treat elderly people with importance.
Ms Banda, whose children are dead, says most young people were not living long currently because they were ignoring the biblical teaching.
“Things are bad for elderly people. If you pass home, you will be very sorry. Government and other stakeholders should help old people like me.
“I still have life in me but our children don’t care of their old parents. Young people need to change and start taking care of people who brought them to the earth,” she said.
Ms Banda is one of the old people who usually receive mealie meal and other items from Life Begins Tutalike Centre which is sponsored by Livingstone’s Zig Zag Lodge.
“Tutalike Life Begins Centre does not choose tribe in terms of who to help. They picked any person among the old including me and I thank God.
“My leg is broken and my children died and so there is no one to help me. I have no house and I sleep in a muddy and makeshift structure,” she said.
David Mudenda, another Livingstone resident born in 1938, said elderly people were facing many problems.
“We old people are asking Government to look after us. We just stay in homes and there is no help.
“Old people are good voters and so they should be looked after very well. Political parties can’t come to an end if they garner support from old people,” Mr Mudenda said.
He thanked Tutalike Life Begins Centre and Zig Zag Lodge for helping vulnerable people in society.
“Our children these days have no respect for elderly people. Many years ago, children used to chase their parents but one child chose to keep his parents and grandparents and later he became a king.
“Let children respect their parents so that they live longer. Don’t accuse parents of engaging in witchcraft,” Mr Mudenda said.
Nola Musangu, who was born in 1949 in Senanga, says she was also keeping her mother and both were in a vulnerable situation.
“My mother is still alive and I am the one keeping her while my child died. I don’t understand how God is sustaining us to this far.
“We have too much hunger. We are not being paid under the Social Cash Transfer and I am asking the Government to include us on this programme,” Ms Musangu said.
Tutalike Life Begins Centre and Zig Zag Lodge recently donated mealie meal, salt, soap, and sugar to 120 elderly people as well as disabled and malnourished children in Livingstone’s Ngwenya Township valued at about K7,200.
According to Tutalike Life Begins coordinator, Susiku Mwanangombe, there was need for all citizens to take keen interest in caring for the old people.
“Old people are also part of us and they are voters. They take part in all the activities of life but few people cares for them when it comes to their welfare.
“We have a lot of old people in the community besides those who are kept in old people’s homes. We have a lot of them who are in their households, just laying there hungry while some are sick,” Ms Mwanangombe said.
She made a passionate appeal to the community to look after the old people.
“It is not true that all old people engage in witchcraft. Old people in fact give us wisdom and even us one day we will be old.
“The surviving old people can give us data on what happened in the past which can build the current and future generations,”
She says her centre started operating in 2006 to uplift the lives of vulnerable people in society.
“These old people survive by crashing stones in Ngwenya Township and they don’t have the strength and it is rare that they have enough to eat. So we decided to mitigate their hunger situation in their rea.
“We also pay school fees for their children who are also vulnerable.
“Today the issue is school fees, food and health care,” she said.
The sentre also regularly provides medical supplies to old people, disabled and other vulnerable citizens.
“We bring doctors from Livingstone Central Hospital who usually come and screen the old people.
“We also buy the drugs which are needed and administer to those who are not feeling well,” she said.
Ms Mwanangombe said most old people would like the Government to extend the Social Cash Transfer to them but unfortunately only few people were part of the programme.
“We have a lot of old people who are neglected by their children and grandchildren and they are only seen when they hear that they are dead.
“When they are alive, they don’t want to support them. Many are neglected by their families because of witchcraft accusations and other vices,” she said.
Ms Mwanangombe said her organisation was committed to supporting the lives old of people and other vulnerable citizens in society.
“Apart from elderly people who are kept at the Maramba Old People’s Home, we have many other old people who have no food while others are sick and so we need to look after them,” she said.
Zig Zag Lodge Proprietor Lynne Mendelsohn said she had rated community work very high on her priority besides running a lodge.
Ms Mendelsohn, whose Lodge is sponsoring Tutalike Life Begins together with her partners in United Kingdom (UK), said old people were the ones who fought for the country’s independence and hence they should be supported.
“I don’t just want to be a business woman when I can do something to help other people in the community.
“It makes me sad when I see old people who have no food. Food insecurity is terrible and we need to do something to help elderly and other vulnerable people in society,” she said.
Ms Mendelsohn said community work had been of very high priority for her since she came to Livingstone many years ago.
“I think the way we look at society and vulnerable people is a real measure of who we are as individuals and society.
“We need to focus on helping the malnourished children and elderly who have no financial income. You can’t tell an elderly person to draw water but if you find these people doing quarry work and earn money for their children, for me I feel I need to support them and I am motivated to do that,” Ms Mendelsohn said.
She said some tourists coming to Livingstone were also interested to see old people and learn something from them.
“I don’t just want to end as a business woman when my heart is also with the vulnerable people.
“Old people have worked hard and built this country. They fought for independence and endured the struggle during the colonial times and we really need to take great care of them and it is very sad when you see someone alone and they have no food,” she said.
Ms Mendelsohn says she visited one lady who had no food and she could not remember the last time she had mealie meal.
“That was moving and we gave her a bag of mealie meal. Food insecurity is terrible and I am struggling even when business is down but old people have nowhere to go. Maybe you have grandchildren and you can’t feed them.
“All of us should motivate ourselves to help most vulnerable people. If we don’t do that, what will happen when we are elderly? What example are we setting to children? We need to develop an altitude where we are prepared to go and help vulnerable people particularly the elderly,” Ms Mendelsohn said.