Namibia’s Ouma Gansib at 119: faith, meat and tobacco 

Not only does she wake up her great-grandchildren for school every morning, but Ouma Marta Gansib (119) is also the breadwinner of her family.

With her monthly pension grant she runs a household with 18 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Ouma Gansib is a supercentenarian – a person who has reached or lived past the age of 110 years.

When she was born at Sam !Khubis near Rehoboth on 24 December 1906, World War I had not yet broken out and television did not exist.

Ouma Gansib has never owned a cellphone, but is fascinated with technology.

She says she prefers to hold on to her age-old values which the young generation lacks.

“Back in the day, talking back to elders was unheard of. We listened to our elders and accepted whatever they told us,” she tells The Namibian through a Damara-Nama translator.

Despite having lost all her teeth, meat remains Ouma Gansib’s favourite food to eat on good days when she is not too tired.

Her daily routine is simple: “The first thing Ouma asks for when she wakes up is her tobacco and a cup of tea,” one of her great-granddaughters Zoe Kanies (18) says.

Ouma Gansib, who is believed to be Rehoboth’s oldest living resident according to the Hardap Regional Council’s records, turned 119 years old on 24 December and is aiming for another year.

“Hopefully God will grant me more years,” she says.

When asked how she has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the Battle of Sam !Khubis, and more recently Covid-19, her advice to the younger generation is simple: “Don’t talk back when elders are talking. Today’s generation does not listen to their elders.”

Ouma Gansib was just eight when she and her family and thousands others fled the Battle of Sam !Khubis near Rehoboth on 8 May 1915. She also experienced the period when Germany colonised South West Africa, now called Namibia.

Although her memory has become rusty, Ouma’s memory is “still sharp”, according to her grandchildren, and although her eyesight has diminished over the years, she is still able to recognise them.

THE FAMILY MATRIACH

Ouma Gansib remembers she got married at a very young age in the mid 1900s, but does not remember at what exact age.

She says she lived at a farm near Rehoboth with her husband until he died in 1978.

“I cannot quite remember a few things,” she says, as one of her grandsons puts a cup of water to her mouth.

Ouma Gansib has only two surviving daughters after three of her older children died over the years.

She is the grandmother of 15 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandmother to 11.

“I’m happy to have observed three generations of my family grow up,” she says.

When The Namibian paid Gansib a visit at her home in Rehoboth’s Block B, she was sitting in her wheelchair eating marshmallows.

The family says she is in good health and only takes medication for high blood pressure, which does not bother her much.

During the interview, she was humming an old Damara-Nama song from a hymn book.

“My resting place is at the feet of the Lord.”

She says “the secret is to always pray to God, read the Bible, and go back to God to ask for guidance”.

Ouma Gansib attended school on a farm in the Kunene region at |Hoadis.

She says she could not speak English, but could connect the words.

“We used to play ‘owela’, look after domestic animals, and skip rope. Even during the time with my husband, we lived at the farm looking after animals until he died,” she says.

As a young woman, she says she offered young children seeking Christianity confirmation classes.

SURIVING ON OUMA’S PENSION

One of Ouma’s granddaughters, Magdalena Kansie, says all 18 of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren depend on her pension grant.

The family lives off that, as well as the pension grant of her first-born (81).

When Ouma Gansib does not get her social grant, there is no food at home and the family stays hungry.

“We sometimes do not have food at home. But sometimes we get food from her second-born (69), who lives at another house with her family,” Kansie says.

Due to her age, councillor Dawid Keister says the Ministry of Finance, responsible for disbursement of pension grants, has repeatedly removed Ouma from the list of recipients over the years, assuming she was no longer alive.

“We have had to repeatedly prove she is alive so she can continue receiving her pension grant,” he says.

Keister says Ouma Gansib has not been receiving her social grant due to this and will only receive it in August again.

OUMA’S LEGACY

What the family will remember most is Ouma Gansib’s delicious home-baked bread and the magou she used to make.

Although taking care of the elderly comes with challenges, Kansie says the family does not see this as a challenge, but rather part of their daily routine.

“Just like the Bible study we do every day, taking care of Ouma has become routine. Sometimes she may not want to speak to us or wake up, but that is part of it,” she says.

Ouma’s last-born daughter, Martha Kansies (69), a retired domestic worker, hopes to live longer and be healthier than her supercentenarian mother.

She says her mother always encouraged them to pray and study to be independent.

“We grew up around the fire, singing and praying together. We will always remember her jokes; she makes us laugh,” she says.

Rehoboth local authority councillor Janet Nowases on Tuesday said having someone who has lived as long as Ouma Gansib in the community is a constant reminder that one should always ask God for guidance.

She urged young people to be inspired by this and to respect and listen to their elders.

“Her life tells us that life was difficult in the past. Listening to her story tells us that things were tough, but that technology now makes it easier,” she said.

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