Meet Margret Chola, a fun-loving grandmother in her mid-80s from rural Zambia, whose granddaughter, Diana Kaumba, happens to be a stylist based in New York City.

In a spirited moment one day when Diana was in Zambia visiting her “Mbuya” (“grandmother,” in the local Bemba language), the two women began playing dress-up with some of Diana’s fashion creations. Seeing how fabulous Mbuya looked in the stylish outfits, Diana thought it would be fun to photograph her, on her farm outside of the capital city of Lusaka, and to post some of the pictures online.

The first ten minutes after posting brought 1,000 or so likes, and today Margret Chola is known to the world as “Legendary Glamma,” with 225,000 Instagram followers. Of her new role, she says:

“I feel different, I feel new and alive in these clothes, in a way that I’ve never felt before. I feel like I can conquer the world!” [Penny Dale, BBC, November 15, 2024.]

Diana says she hopes their Granny Series will highlight that older people still have a lot to offer:

“Do not write them off, love them just the same till the end because remember we will be just like them one day.” [Id.]

Mbuya’s life has been a difficult one. But she urges people to “live their lives and not worry about being judged by society.” She says you can “always forgive yourself for whatever mistakes you made. You can never change your past — but you can change your future. . . . I’m now able to wake up with a purpose knowing that people around the world love to see me.” [Id.]

This beautiful, vibrant, spunky lady is my new role model. Keep it going, Mbuya.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
11/18/24

[Photos from CNN, 11/15/24]