0:00:02 > 0:00:07Good morning on BBC News now, a special progress.
0:00:07 > 0:00:12Celebrating Life at 117.
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Welcome to my
0:00:13 > 0:00:15Welcome to my great-grandmother 's 170th birthday,
0:00:15 > 0:00:15Welcome to my great-grandmother 's 170th birthday, right now
0:00:15 > 0:00:16Welcome to my great-grandmother 's 170th birthday, right now she is
0:00:16 > 0:00:19taking because people who have come to see her and celebrate this big
0:00:19 > 0:00:25day with her. There is more than 90 years difference between me and her.
0:00:25 > 0:00:32She is 117 and I am just 23. I am Priscilla Ng'ethe. I am returning to
0:00:32 > 0:00:38my ancestral home in Kenya to celebrate remarkable birthday of one
0:00:38 > 0:00:47of the oldest people in the world. My great-grandmother, Elisabeth. I
0:00:47 > 0:00:52am here to discover the secrets of her long life. As she throws a party
0:00:52 > 0:01:00and reunites five generations of my family.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22This is where I was born. It's about ten miles from Nairobi, the capital
0:01:22 > 0:01:33of can you. Is fertile land has been home to my family for at least six
0:01:33 > 0:01:39generations. -- this. Today, there are hundreds like me spread around
0:01:39 > 0:01:46the world. I am returning from a home in London to visit a woman very
0:01:46 > 0:01:51close to my heart. Who has never left Kenya, but has cultivated a
0:01:51 > 0:02:04global family. We are just heading up the road, it is quite bumpy as it
0:02:04 > 0:02:08is a makeshift rope. This is a shrine where most of my family are
0:02:08 > 0:02:12buried, my great grandad, my Grandad, this children and his five
0:02:12 > 0:02:19wives. I great-grandmother is the fifth wife. We are heading up to my
0:02:19 > 0:02:23great-grandmother 's home, she lives right by the side of where my great
0:02:23 > 0:02:32grandad used to live and I am really excited to see her. He/she is. --
0:02:32 > 0:02:36here she is.
0:02:38 > 0:02:52Hi! Hello!Hello!How are you?How are you?It is good to see you. To
0:02:52 > 0:03:03see you. -- good to see you.She is fine.Long-time.Long time, many
0:03:03 > 0:03:15years.This is my great-grandmother, Elisabeth. She is going to be 117.
0:03:15 > 0:03:20This is my great aunt Irene and she is here to help with the
0:03:20 > 0:03:22translations because I can understand everything my
0:03:22 > 0:03:29great-grandmother tells me but to speak here is really difficult to.
0:03:29 > 0:03:35Great grandma Elizabeth has lived on this land for 90 years. She grew up
0:03:35 > 0:03:40tending cattle on her father 's farm, then moved here as a young
0:03:40 > 0:03:46bride and raised seven children. She built this house with profits from
0:03:46 > 0:03:52the farm. My great-grandmother is proud of her government identity
0:03:52 > 0:03:58card. It doesn't show the exact month or day that she was born, but
0:03:58 > 0:04:08does have her year of birth as 1900. The tribal tradition of age groups
0:04:08 > 0:04:13is the same name to all children born in the Seniors Party my
0:04:13 > 0:04:22great-grandmother belongs to this age group, meaning we know she was
0:04:22 > 0:04:26born sometime between 1899 and 1900.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44Do you remember when you got married?
0:04:57 > 0:05:00And how do you remember your wedding day?
0:05:31 > 0:05:38Is it force?Force. She was brought by force, she was married by force
0:05:38 > 0:05:42because she was too young and at that time she didn't want to get
0:05:42 > 0:05:46married to an old person because she was the fifth wife.
0:05:46 > 0:05:50Great-grandmother Elisabeth was the fifth of six wives of the senior
0:05:50 > 0:05:55chief. He worked with the British during colonial rule and is
0:05:55 > 0:05:59well-known in can you for playing a part in the country 's independence.
0:05:59 > 0:06:06-- in can you. -- can you.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09-- Kenya.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12Is it difficult for you to be the fifth wife?
0:06:37 > 0:06:42Leonard is Elisabeth's sixth child and he is my great uncle. He lives
0:06:42 > 0:06:47next door to my great-grandmother and was a child during the 1950s,
0:06:47 > 0:06:58when his father, the senior chief, was detained during the Mau Mau
0:06:58 > 0:07:03uprising. The Mau Mau uprising was a revolt against European ownership of
0:07:03 > 0:07:12land.Suspects were checked prior to interrogation.A state of emergency
0:07:12 > 0:07:16was declared in Kenya and although it eventually led to the end of
0:07:16 > 0:07:20British rule, it was a tough time for my great grandparents and for my
0:07:20 > 0:07:32uncle Leonard.In 1952, my father was taken into detention. Kenya had
0:07:32 > 0:07:36been declared emergency and he was detained for the next seven years he
0:07:36 > 0:07:44was in detention. We used to be children of a cheat, we became
0:07:44 > 0:07:47beggars. We were being helped by those people we would have called
0:07:47 > 0:07:55for. During now the Mau Mau, it was not only affecting our family, it
0:07:55 > 0:08:03affected other families. One of my auntie 's, who had, I think there
0:08:03 > 0:08:10were nine children, my mother took them and already she had taken two
0:08:10 > 0:08:16other children who had belonged to our sister who had died. So, my
0:08:16 > 0:08:26mother was raising about 20 children. So we had a lot of, it was
0:08:26 > 0:08:36not, you know? Like we are fighting to food. -- fall food.
0:08:36 > 0:08:37-- for food.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45This shrine is resting place of my great-grandfather. He lies alongside
0:08:45 > 0:08:51his five wives and there is a space reserved for my great-grandmother
0:08:51 > 0:08:57Elisabeth. As theirs was a polygamous marriage, visiting this
0:08:57 > 0:09:10shrine puts into perspective how large the Chiefs family really was.
0:09:16 > 0:09:24My great-grandfather is resting here. But his legacy is living on in
0:09:24 > 0:09:33hundreds of descendants. What do you think about polygyny today? Would
0:09:33 > 0:09:37you advise me to go down that route?
0:09:37 > 0:09:37-- polgygamy.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42You wouldn't like me to?
0:10:13 > 0:10:20You were the last one to practise polygyny, does that mean that our
0:10:20 > 0:10:24family will now be smaller and smaller and how do you feel about
0:10:24 > 0:10:26that?
0:10:27 > 0:10:29-- polygamy.
0:11:09 > 0:11:14So you wouldn't want me to just have one or two kids, you would want me
0:11:14 > 0:11:24to have five, six regardless of how many children I may have in the
0:11:24 > 0:11:28future, there is no doubt that the family is growing. My
0:11:28 > 0:11:33great-grandmother gave birth to seven children and there are tens of
0:11:33 > 0:11:41grandchildren. My father was one of them and I am his second child of
0:11:41 > 0:11:44three and making me one of many, many great grandchildren to
0:11:44 > 0:11:47Elisabeth.
0:12:04 > 0:12:13Who is in those pictures, that one day? -- that one there?
0:12:43 > 0:12:51That picture there, the one, I think it is you and those kids around you.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33I can see that photographs play a big part of my great-grandmother's
0:13:33 > 0:13:40life.To celebrate her birthday, she is throwing a party. And we are
0:13:40 > 0:13:44going to attempt something very special. A family photograph, a
0:13:44 > 0:13:50living family tree, with five generations of my family and my
0:13:50 > 0:13:56great-grandmother at the centre. But with so many people involved, it
0:13:56 > 0:14:11could take a while. The first of January is a big day for my
0:14:11 > 0:14:16great-grandmother, Elizabeth Clementi. She has invited family and
0:14:16 > 0:14:23friends to celebrate her 117 birthday. -- Koinange. They have
0:14:23 > 0:14:27travelled far and wide and it is a chance on me to reunite with my
0:14:27 > 0:14:31Kenyan family.So your family, your children, children's children, they
0:14:31 > 0:14:36are all spread out across the world like me in London.Do you like but
0:14:36 > 0:15:13we are all over the world? So he view always celebrated on the first
0:15:13 > 0:15:32of January, since you can remember? -- so have you always celebrated?
0:15:38 > 0:15:44Right now, everyone is preparing the food. There is going to be loads of
0:15:44 > 0:15:48meat, loads of vegetables. So now it's time to get changes all the
0:15:48 > 0:15:52guests are slowly arriving Sly will wear something that is a bit more
0:15:52 > 0:16:00comfortable. -- so I will.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15By throwing this party, my great-grandmother is continuing the
0:16:15 > 0:16:19traditions started by her late husband, of gathering friends and
0:16:19 > 0:16:32family together on the first day of the year. So right now, the party is
0:16:32 > 0:16:35in full swing. Most people are beaten. There are still some people
0:16:35 > 0:16:40getting served over here. We still have some late arrivals coming in,
0:16:40 > 0:16:44as you'd expect. We have my great uncle right now giving a speech and
0:16:44 > 0:16:48sagging, once everyone has eaten, the whole family, everyone gets
0:16:48 > 0:16:52together and takes a group picture of the family tree. Next, it's time
0:16:52 > 0:16:58for the guest of honour to the microphone.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18Time for cake, and one of Elizabeth's granddaughters does the
0:18:18 > 0:18:32honours. Happy birthday. Happy birthday!
0:18:42 > 0:18:48Great-grandmother puts longevity down to a diet of yams and milky tea
0:18:48 > 0:18:54but for today, she is happy to indulge. She's been given some cake
0:18:54 > 0:18:59in the first people to be given some cake was everyone named after my
0:18:59 > 0:19:04great grandad. So what might party said was, all the Koinanges, come
0:19:04 > 0:19:09and get your grandmother, York great-grandmother, your
0:19:09 > 0:19:12great-great-grandmother some cake and I think she is happy, she has
0:19:12 > 0:19:17had a lot of cake. Hopefully when I'm old and 100 years old, I will be
0:19:17 > 0:19:22fed cake by all -- by all. All the people who come after me. It's a
0:19:22 > 0:19:31beautiful thing and I'm quite jealous, to be honest. So we are
0:19:31 > 0:19:38just going to wait... I'm going to choke. This cake is good. So we are
0:19:38 > 0:19:42just going to wait for my great-grandmother to where they are
0:19:42 > 0:19:48all taking a family picture. -- to go. Once we are all sat down, we
0:19:48 > 0:19:52will start will move into that area. Organising so many people is a tough
0:19:52 > 0:19:58task. Everybody is keen to catch up. And while great-grandmother
0:19:58 > 0:20:03patiently waits, it is a chance to meet relatives I didn't know I had.
0:20:03 > 0:20:13Do you know how we are related?I belong to the grandmother.He is my
0:20:13 > 0:20:20cousin. So his son is your dad? Hello.High, high, high. Thank you
0:20:20 > 0:20:27very much. I am your aunt. I am your aunt.People are so excited to see
0:20:27 > 0:20:31each other that they are socialising and they are slowly, slowly, slowly
0:20:31 > 0:20:35moving towards this way. So hopefully we get the picture by the
0:20:35 > 0:20:41end of the day. First to join our living family tree,
0:20:41 > 0:20:45great-grandmother Elizabeth. Surrounded by her six surviving
0:20:45 > 0:20:53children, who have a combined age of more than 400. Next to join, my
0:20:53 > 0:21:05aunts and uncles. So now that another generation has been called,
0:21:05 > 0:21:10it is people descended from my great-grandmother, so I know join.
0:21:10 > 0:21:17My mother has been holding this party for about 20 years. She enjoys
0:21:17 > 0:21:22it. She would like to do it every quarter of the year. She is happy to
0:21:22 > 0:21:29see her family coming together. She has created a great family unit.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45Many of us enjoyed tracing our family tree but the most families,
0:21:45 > 0:21:49gathering so many generations like this together is impossible. It's no
0:21:49 > 0:21:54surprise that people have travelled from far and wide because
0:21:54 > 0:22:01great-grandmother Elizabeth's enthusiasm for life is infectious. I
0:22:01 > 0:22:11finally got myself E. -- selfie. Hers is a life well lived, a light
0:22:11 > 0:22:16focused on providing her descendants advantages that she didn't get to
0:22:16 > 0:22:21enjoy. Faith, love and food are the fundamentals of my
0:22:21 > 0:22:25great-grandmother's life. And although she rarely leaves a small
0:22:25 > 0:22:29house, the world comes to her to her children, grandchildren and
0:22:29 > 0:22:37great-grandchildren like me.One of the things which I like about her
0:22:37 > 0:22:43and I think this is God-given is her memory because she doesn't get old.
0:22:43 > 0:22:49If you come here, you say hello to her and talk to her, next time you
0:22:49 > 0:22:52come, she will remember you very well. She can't forget.
0:23:01 > 0:23:07Bye!
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Improvements in medicine mean we can all expect a longer life but it's
0:23:11 > 0:23:16how you live it that really matters. Amphibious, my great-grandmother
0:23:16 > 0:23:20Elizabeth is my inspiration.
0:23:32 > 0:23:37-- and for this.