For a 103-year-old lady, Adina Capitus has a forceful punch; not in the sense of a young person but not what would be expected from a centenarian either.

Born in April 1906, the Bagotville, West Bank Demerara resident celebrated her 103rd birthday yesterday and during an interview got into a boxer’s stance, swayed from side to side and punched me in the shoulder just to show her strength. Should one disclose that one was punched by a 103-year-old?

Blessed: Adina Capitus reads her Bible.

It is hard to believe that she was born before World War One, World War Two, Guyana’s Independence and other momentous occasions.

Capitus is spry, sees well, reads and moves in a way that belies her age. Her only problem is that she is a bit hard of hearing. Yesterday her relatives gathered at the home to celebrate another milestone and she was in the thick of things.

“Me born on Sunday”, she said loudly. Asked how she felt on reaching 103 she said “Me nah sick, me strong” and went on to relate that she did not cough.

“God keep me. Jesus keep me. He keep me and give me strength and give me sight,” she stated. In a more forceful tone, “God love me and keep all the children,” she said. To demonstrate her vigour, to someone who apparently questioned her strength, she then got into a boxer’s stance, put her face close, punched me in the shoulder and then perched on the side of the chair. Okay.

As long as you put your trust in God, He will keep you, she said. A relative warned that soon she could start praying for me.  It is not surprising that she still goes to church and reads her Bible unaided. Capitus said that if she had her way, she would wash but her family does not allow her to.

Birthday Love: Adina Capitus (centre) surrounded by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren at her Bagotville home yesterday.

One of her most outstanding qualities is that she gives thanks to God for every little thing, one of her caregivers, Kirk Nurse said.

Capitus began working at 16 at the Diamond Sugar estate where she fetched water for the cane harvesters. She also helped to build roads. She married in her teens and bore 13 children, only three of whom are still alive. After 32 years in the cane fields, the woman left and became a domestic worker until she retired.

At last count she had 70 grandchildren, at least 64 great-grand-children and dozens of great-great grandchildren. According to relatives, she lives a “simple life” and likes bread with lots of butter or cheese. She also likes a lot of milk and soup.

Capitus is a vegetarian and has been so for the past 50 years. She is independent-minded. “She still wants to prove to us that she is self-sufficient,” Nurse said.

Yesterday the family gathered at the home and today, in honour of Capitus’s birthday, they will take dinner to the children at the Red Cross Convalescent Home.
One of her great-grandchildren related that she admires her great-grandmother because she is strong, healthy and at her age she can do a lot of things. Yes, she punched me.