75 AND STILL WALKING STRONG
Perhaps the brightest highlight of the ‘Walk for Life Campaign’ is 75 years old walker Mr Stanley Monageng who walked all the way despite his advanced age and medical history.
Mr Monageng was not new to long distance health walks. Twenty-two years ago he stared death in the face but was granted a second chance.
Now 75, it is hard to imagine that this energetic old man who feels like he’s 21 almost perished to AIDS. Back then it was not just the demise of the body which was feared but the death of the victim’s reputation due to the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
“My wife used to literally wheel me to the hospital in a wheelbarrow because I couldn’t move on my own,” Mr Monageng recollects. Now he is popularly known as ‘The Walking Uncle Stan’. One day his three year old daughter came home hungry while Mrs Monageng was away. The little child was demanding for bread and Monageng had to do something. He drew on whatever courage and strength was left and sat up!
“I took the child’s hand and got up and started walking frequently stopping but I managed to help the kid. From then on I realised that staying in bed all day made my ailment worse and swore I would never again let my body get to this sorry state,” he said.
Mr Monageng said he started going from house to house giving people courage to live on even with HIV. His message was; ‘HIV is not a death sentence’ and he is a living proof. In 2005 he took on a daring walk to Francistown from Gaborone giving the good news of life after HIV.
Later he would start a non-profit organisation called Thusang Bana Centre and embark on his second educational walk to Shoshong via Lephephe and back to Gaborone vial Mahalapye. Just before COVID-19 brought everything to a halt, he had walked with USA then Ambassador to Botswana HE Craig Cloud.
It’s a small thing to walk especially when I get to encourage and teach others that exercise helps prevent numerous diseases. I feel like a 21 year old but it pains me to see the youth neglect their bodies. Not many are capable of what I can even though they are young,” the Champion Walker stated.