“Living it up”
The Ga-Rankuwa Golden Grannies has recently won their first soccer league cup,
after playing over ten league games since
they began in 2009. The team secretary,
Virginia Modise does not turn back from a
challenge. This vibrant woman who recently
turned 73 does the 500m brisk walk for the
annual Golden Games and has received
many sport accolades. Dedication and
hard work is all that these elders embody.
Remember how you used to take a broomstick or a feather duster and place it upright
on your index finger to see how long you
can balance it in the air, and then assume
that you are the best only because you can
balanced it for 10seconds?
Well, 82 year old Frances Mohajane and
her Senior Citizen Club are actually doing it.
Yes, the entire set with fancy uniforms, drums
and all the funky tricks they perform with the
shiny silver sticks. This group focuses on various facets related to entertainment, such
as traditional dance, gumboot dance, and
even choir.
Tsholofelo Senior Citizens headed by Mable
Modumo, started in 2007 on Mother’s Day,
when her daughter gave Mable tickets to her
opera concert at the State Theatre. Mable
gave some of the women in her community
the tickets and that is how their travel and
leisure initiative began and has been operating for over 6 years. This group has been to
Cape Town, Mpumalanga, Durban and has
hopes of touring international countries.
Giving Back
These exceptional women are not only doing
these activities and duties to benefit themselves. Ensuring that women remain active is
the main objective. Everyone is seen as vital
as the next individual in order for a community to run smoothly and to unite, so these
women have stuck to their responsibilities
by bridging the gap between themselves to
the young individuals of their society.
There are ruined environments that certainly
need their help and poverty is the main reason for this. These women have a section in
their forum, and separate groups, that dedicate their time to agriculture. They supply
vegetables to nearer foundations that take
food to schools for less privileged children to
have at least one meal a day. This initiative
of having vegetable gardens is also helping
them in ensuring that they stay economical;
these gardens certainly reduce some costs
in their budgets.
The Ga-Rankuwa Golden Grannies find utmost importance in emphasizing the importance of exercise, which is why their contribution to the community is in the form of
helping other grown-ups take part in physical activities and sports programmes.
They have successfully created a children’s
soccer club that comes in everyday for training. “This is to keep the boys busy and away
from the streets,” says