Congratulations to the five young authors awarded for their contributions to our Life Stories project.
With the aim of connecting all ages across the Commonwealth, combating ageism and recording stories for generations to come, we invited young people living in Commonwealth countries to spend time with an older person and write that person’s life story.
All the essays we received were amazing and it was a challenging task the four assessors faced when evaluating well over 40 submissions from 20 countries across the Commonwealth.
The five best authors were announced by Anthony Agius Decelis, Junior Minister for Persons with Disability & Active Ageing, Parliament of Malta, at the CommonAge Elders Forum Gala Dinner in Reading, England on 16th April 2018.
These were:
Alexandra Zutphen & Andrea Argyrou
Cyprus
Two 15-yr-old school girls in Nicosia, Cyprus spent time talking to nonegenarian Milia Andreou Aggelides. She told them about tending sheep as a child, caring for a husband who had PTSD having fought in the War of Independence, raising her family and attending a Turkish-Cypriot wedding in Morphou.
Khumbolane Alice Nyirenda
Malawi
Recently graduated Khumbolane Alice Nyirenda, 22 enjoyed chatting with Felistas Muhome, 95. Orphaned at the age of 5, Filistas describes living with her aunt and successfully dancing for rain. She talks about the joy meeting the love of her life and the sadness when all seven of her children died of AIDS.
Donald Mufalali
Zambia
15 yr old Donald Mufalali from Lusaka, talked to his grandmother Sophia Ngoma. She was born in 1924 but the actual date of her birth is unknown as it’s not on her national registration card. She told him about old people in Africa being perceived as witches. Donald describes his grandmother lovingly as having hair as white as snow and still being able to hear him talking, even when he whispers.
Nur Hanum Binti Fauzi
Malaysia
Nur Hanum Binti Fauzi, 21 has spent time comparing past and present as she reminisces with her much loved grandmother Rohani Binti Ahmad, 72. Rohani explains when she was a young girl, the family was poor and needed a pass to buy food. As there was no running water or electricity, she washed clothes in the river and secretly sold eggs on the train for pocket money.
Madison Butler
Australia
‘Down under’ on the Gold Coast of Australia, Madison Butler, 18 heard how June Glanville, 92, and her husband decided to travel and work round Australia for a couple of years. Driving a 4×4 and towing a caravan she recalls working on a cattle station on Cape York and the delight of catching barramundi near Darwin. When they started the trip, petrol was 21 cents a litre and had risen to 42 cents when the trip ended.
A huge well done and thank all those who participated in the Life Stories Project, and a big thank you to everyone who helped spread the word and supported the authors with the submission process.
A huge thank you to the Editors Ingrid Eyers and Annie Waddington-Feather for managing the competition and editing the stories.
(NB CommonAge is run by volunteers and the competition and editing of this book has been done voluntary. While the book is free to download, there will be an option to make a small donation to CommonAge when downloading your copy.)