Birthday centenarian jots to President Uhuru

A centenarian who interacted with and was a student of the beatified Sister Irene ‘Nyaatha’ Stefani celebrated 100 years at a colourful ceremony in one of her daughter’s homes in Nanyuki. Emma Wangechi who was born on January 3, 1920, celebrated her 100th birthday on Friday in Ichuga village on the outskirts of Nanyuki town with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren where she recited Catholic prayers in Latin, read the bible and also wrote a goodwill message to President Uhuru Kenyatta before cutting a cake to mark the day. In her written message in Kikuyu language and in legible handwriting, the centenarian urged the Head of State to unite the nation for all people to live harmoniously for the nation to thrive. Message to Uhuru “To (President) Uhuru Kenyatta, much greetings please ask Kenyans to unite so that the country can live in peace,” read part of the message that was a paragraph long. Wangechi, a mother of five daughters looked strong for her age only saying that one of her shoulders was in pain and therefore preferred to sit down throughout the colourful occasion. “My shoulder is aching and my legs are weak, I can’t stand for long,” she said before cutting the cake to mark her birthday. Wangechi pens down a message on a piece of paper to President Uhuru Kenyatta urging him to unite the country for peaceful co-existence of all. Photo/Martin Munyi/KNA She said she met Sister Irene ‘Nyaatha’ Stephani in her early years at her home in Gikondi in Mukurweini, Nyeri County when the nun visited her home in the 1920s following an invitation by her father who had asked her to teach her children to pray. “She used to come to our home often riding on a horse and would immediately start teaching the children and other villagers on how to recite Catholic prayers in Latin language and that’s how we became Catholics,” Wangechi said. She adds that the nun also taught local children how to read and write and that’s when she learnt to read and write in Kikuyu. “I became very fond of the Catholic religion and that’s why even today I am a very staunch follower of the church even after sister Nyaatha died,” she added amid applause from her kin present. She adds that her whole village was saddened to learn of the death of the nun who also doubled up as a nurse while treating patients suffering from plague. The ceremony was also attended by two Catholic priests Father Peter Githinji and Martin Ndegwa who had earlier led a mass for the granny at the Equator Catholic Church in the area. Physically strong Father Githinji said that it was a great moment that the granny was celebrating her centenary birthday and was not just strong physically but also religiously. “She is one of the beneficiaries who were taught religion by Blessed Sister Irene ‘Nyaatha’ and has been instrumental in assisting the postulation department of the Catholic Church in Kenya and Rome (Italy) as a living witness for the process of beatification and eventual canonisation,” Githinji said. Father Ndegwa who is in charge of the Nanyuki parish said that Wangechi was a person to emulate because of her deep faith and urged other Christians to emulate her. “You have seen that even after we prayed before the ceremony she had to say her own personal prayers because she is very much devoted and how I wish we can emulate her as a model because she is one Christian who is very dedicated in this parish,” Fr Ndegwa said. Long Life Anne Wahito 72, who is Wangechi’s second-born daughter said they attributed her mother’s long life to the love they showed her and good feeding. “She has a good appetite and prefers to eat traditional food such as boiled arrowroots, bananas, sweet potatoes, vegetables and fruits,” Wahito said. She said that she took in her mother in November 2018 to care for her after her 75-year-old sister passed on with whom the mother stayed with. Wahito said that they have been taking care of their mother since the death of their father Benson Kariuki in 1993. Sister Irene Stephani who was popularly known as ‘Nyaatha’ by locals in Gikondi arrived in Kenya in 1915 and died 15 years later after contracting plague while treating locals. She was only 39 years then. Her Kikuyu name ‘Nyaatha’ loosely translates to mother of sympathy. Sister Irene was beatified on May 23, 2015, in Nyeri following Pope Francis approval of a decree on June 12, 2014, that recognised a miracle attributed to her intercession The extraordinary miracle that was attributed to her intervention happened at a local church in Napepe, Mozambique where catechists from different parishes who were isolated together with other people who had sought refuge in the church in 1989 prayed through Sister Irene and baptismal water was increased, allowing them to use it for three-and-a-half days for drinking and bathing. A second miracle attributed to prayers made to her as ‘the Blessed’ will be required then she can be declared a saint. - KNA

Birthday centenarian jots to President Uhuru

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Birthday centenarian jots to President Uhuru

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