A 117-year-old woman from a small village in Albania may be the oldest woman in the world.
Qamile Marra was born on 19 August 1909, according to several official documents. That would make her two days older than Britain’s Ethel Caterham, who Guinness World Records recognises as the world’s oldest living woman.
Proving the exact age of very old people can be tricky, because birth records in some places aren’t reliable. But Marra’s family has a birth certificate from 1945, a passport from 1978 and a recent ID card, all showing the same birth date. They have also contacted Guinness World Records.
Her age has even surprised officials. When she turned 100, they stopped paying her pension (money the government gives older people) because they didn’t believe she was still alive, said her 80-year-old son, Hysen.
Marra has lived almost her whole life in the village of Ferras, growing her own food and looking after animals. She still gets up early to sweep the yard, water her flowers and feed the chickens, and her son says she has never been to a doctor.
“Life is beautiful, like Mount Tomorr in bloom,” Marra said, talking about one of Albania’s highest mountains.
She had seven children, and has now seen five generations of her family grow up around her.
Recently, the government gave her a special pension to celebrate her age.
Te Reo Māori
Headline: Wahine nō Albania, 117 Tau, Tērā Pea Ko Ia te Mea Pakeke Rawa o te Ao
He wahine 117 tau te pakeke, nō tētahi kāinga iti i Albania, tērā pea ko ia te wahine pakeke rawa o te ao.
I whānau mai a Qamile Marra i te 19 o Ākuhata 1909, e ai ki ētahi tuhinga ōkawa. Mēnā he tika tēnā, e rua rā tōna pakeke ake i a Ethel Caterham nō Piritana, e mōhiotia ana e Guinness World Records ko ia te wahine ora pakeke rawa o te ao.
He uaua te whakamatau i te tino pakeke o te hunga tino koroheke, nā te mea kāore e tino tika ana ngā tuhinga whānautanga i ētahi wāhi. Engari kei te whānau o Marra tētahi tiwhikete whānautanga nō te tau 1945, tētahi uruwhenua nō te tau 1978, me tētahi kāri tuakiri hou, ā, he ōrite te rā whānau kei runga i ēnei katoa. Kua whakapā atu hoki rātou ki a Guinness World Records.
Kua ohorere hoki ngā āpiha i tōna pakeke. I te 100 o ōna tau, i whakamutua e rātou tana penihana (he moni ka hoatu e te kāwanatanga ki te hunga pakeke) nā te mea kāore rātou i whakapono kei te ora tonu ia, e ai ki tana tama 80 tau, ki a Hysen.
Kua noho a Marra ki te kāinga o Ferras mō te nuinga o tōna oranga, e whakatipu ana i āna ake kai, e tiaki ana i ngā kararehe. Ka ara wawe tonu ia i te ata ki te tahitahi i te iāri, ki te whakainu i ōna puāwai, ki te whāngai i ngā heihei, ā, e ai ki tana tama, kāore anō ia kia haere ki te tākuta.
“He ātaahua te ora, pēnei i a Mount Tomorr e puāwai ana,” te kī a Marra, e kōrero ana mō tētahi o ngā maunga teitei rawa o Albania.
E whitu āna tamariki, ā, kua kite ia i ngā whakatupuranga e rima o tōna whānau e tipu ake ana i tōna taha.
I nā tata nei, i hoatu e te kāwanatanga tētahi penihana motuhake ki a ia hei whakanui i tōna pakeke.
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