Celina George is Dominica’s twenty sixth centenarian

Dominica’s newest centenarian is Celina George (née Baptiste) of Goodwill who turned 100 years of age on Saturday 15 February 2020.  

George, born and raised on Tranto Estate, Castle Bruce attributes her longevity to living a stress-free life.

“To live life, just take it easy because every morning I get up, i say [the Apostles’ Creed]. Don’t worry your head, just know you have to live properly. Don’t do your neighbour [anything wrong].”

She encourages people to not be consumed in owning material things as “we haven’t got [anything], even though you see the ‘house’…if you have nothing, you go with nothing.”

George recalls a childhood of growing up on agricultural estate with an abundance of food and having to travel to the capital city, Roseau by boat. 

The former seamstress and resourceful homemaker lived a considerable amount of her adult life in England where she raised a family of three children and subsequently had six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. 

She left for England in 1956 and returned to Dominica a number of times with her family before returning for good in 2012.

To this day, she remains active through sewing and creating craft decorations for her home.

“I always find something to do, up till now. All my sewing I do…so pretty. I don’t know about [sewing] patterns, books [and so on]. I just have my head ‘on’. Since you give an old dress you have…I take your size and I make your dress”, George said.

She was also involved in designing her residence at Goodwill.