Gbiaundo Simon, 58, and his wife Sepura Borete speaking to Eye Radio in Yambio, Western Equatoria State. Photo Credit: Awan Achiek

Meet Gbiaundo Simon and Sapura Borete, the shortest married couple living a happy life in Yambio, Western Equatoria State.

Gbiaundo and Sapura have proved that size doesn’t matter when it comes to love.

They are considered one of the shortest couples living at Asanza Boma, about 3km southeast of Yambio town in Western Equatoria State.

The couple whose height has not been measured are blessed with a daughter who is now 14 years old.

“I got married in 2008, and we lived together for like 2 to 3 years, then she conceived and we called our child Zereda, after giving birth to Zereda, we lived again for a long time then she conceived but unfortunately, she had miscarriage.” He told Eye Radio during an interview in Yambio.

Gbiaundo Simon was born in 1966 in a boma called Bodo of Bazungua Payam, while Sapura believed to be in her early 50s came from Kada Boma of Gangura Payam in Yambio County.

While growing up, Gbiaundo reminisced about his upbringing, during which his father taught him the values of respect and responsibility towards women.

“When I was young, my father told me that he didn’t want me to defile any girl because if I did, I would remain in prison, and he would not bail me out for that crime.”

“Since then, I was afraid, and I abstained from engaging in any affairs with a girl all those years,” Gbiaundo recalls his father’s warning setting the foundation for his cautious approach to relationships.

“I have been afraid, and I stayed for all those years without engaging in any affairs with a girl.” He added.

Before their marriage in 2008, both experienced discrimination in finding a partner because of their height, which according to Gbiaundo did not attract one for love.

“I have my friend here called Peter Zoorongbanya, he came one day and told me that there is a woman I have seen so, at that time, I told him I want to go and see her.” He said.

“When we went for the first time to their house in 2007, in a place called Diazenge in Gangura Payam, we did not see the Madam at home, we only met her sisters who told us she went to the house of her uncle then we returned.”

“Days later, I went there and found her, and she wanted to refuse my proposal so, I kept on going there, and fortunately, she was advised by one of my uncles ‘Why do you leave your man who is a businessman selling a variety of items, including biscuits and sweets?’ Then she accepted.” Gbiaundo recalled.

Gbiaundo said he got married in 2008 at the age of 42.    

From selling sweets and biscuits so that he earns a living, Gbiaundo Simon, 58, became a husband in 2008 and a father in 2010 after pursuing love which took him to the doorstep of Sepura Borete.

A life of simple pleasures

As the head of the household, Gbiaundo says he cares for his home and makes his wife happy by providing for the family’s needs.

“As a man, my responsibility is to take care of my house by bringing something that can make my wife happy and also doing what can make me happy.”

“When my friends or any of my in-laws give me money, for example, like 1,000 pounds, I will buy our meat and come home with it sometimes we can also buy fish just to change the diet.” He said.

Gbiaundo and his family live in a homemade of grass surrounded by green vegetation, fruit trees like mangoes and oranges, cassava and sweet potatoes, vegetables, and other farm produce.

Being a subsistent farmer, he said he also cultivates and produces a variety of crops for home consumption.

“My wife mainly plants g/nuts, finger millet, rice, cassava, and others so last year, I managed to cultivate though small in size, and partition it amongst ourselves, for my wife and the other for our daughter,” Gbiaundo stated.

“As you know, it is good to care for women better, so the size of her garden is a little bit bigger than mine because we want to eat and also keep some as seeds for the next season.”

Meanwhile, Sapura Borete, believed to be in her mid-50s, said marriage was not something she anticipated.

She said she is thrilled to have a 14-year-old daughter who is currently in primary five, which according to her, has brought immense happiness to their family.

“In my life, I did not know that I was going to get married however, years after the death of my father, he came to our house and asked that is why I accepted him.” She said.

“I am also happy that we gave birth to a baby girl, and she is now 14 years old, in primary five that is my happiness,” Sepura stressed.

She said for the last 15 years, their daily routine has revolved around understanding each other, working together on the farm, selling farm produce and buying essentials like soap, and doing laundry together, which has contributed to their harmonious way of life.

Sepura adds that she mainly stresses to her husband the importance of avoiding conflicts which has helped them to live together peacefully.

“I always tell him that I don’t want to quarrel, and since then, we have been living together peacefully.” She said.

“We have been living peacefully since we got married about 15 years ago, so I have not seen anything bad.”

“What we mainly do is understand each other, cultivate together, buy our soap, and wash our clothes together, these are a few of the things we do together; that is how we are living,” Sepura added.

Challenges and Resilience

Gbiaundo Simon says their houses, made of grass, face challenges like leaking roofs but adds that he perseveres, building small houses to shelter his family.

“Some of the challenges facing us, as you can see, involve our house being a structure made of grass, and the grass that used to be available is no longer accessible, which presents a challenge as acquiring grass is not easy.”

“All three houses, as you can observe are not in good shape, with rain leaking inside, I am the one who built them.”

Gbiaundo and his family mainly cook and invite young people in the area to come and help them build a house.

He says “Our usual practice is to cook food and call young people from the area here to help build them, after which I seek out poles and they assist in fixing the roof, for which I pay them a small amount for their roofing work.”

Despite being assisted by a group of young people in the area, Gbiaundo says having limited energy is forcing him to build small-sized brick houses.

“One reason I construct these houses in small sizes, like 3×2.5 meters, is that I lack the energy to build larger structures as you can see, my energy has reduced over time, unlike in the past, which is why I construct according to my capacity to ensure we have shelter.” He said.

He went on to say “What others can learn from our life story is that living peacefully with your spouse, without quarrelling and trouble, is paramount.”

“Engaging in behaviours like insulting each other in front of children is not good, so when I got married, I was overjoyed because it felt like God had answered my prayers.”

“I felt like Adam when he was alone; he was not happy, but when God gave him a wife, he found happiness, this commitment of mine remains steadfast to this day.”