Celebrating her birthday once every four years

By PETER KAMURI

Celebrating a birthday every year is a good thing, which makes children enjoy and look forward to the day.

Other than being an occasion to receive gifts, it may be also a time to reflect upon on one’s past life and commemorate birth itself, the joy of life.

However, next time you celebrate your birthday, do not take it for granted.

This is because there exists a group of people who do not enjoy this privilege every year. Their birthday comes just once in every four years!

This is the reason why two Wednesday ago, on the February 29, Vaniah Nyambura Mwangi was a very happy girl. She celebrated her second birthday in eight years!

Vaniah, a pupil at Joywell Academy in Naivasha, belongs to a group of people, estimated to be about five million in the world, known as Leapers or Leaplings, who age every year, but their actual birthday comes every four years.

This is because they were born during a leap year, which occurs every four years. February 29 is the leap year day.

Leap year was introduced by Roman emperor Julius Caesar and dates back to 46 BC. It is a corrective measure to keep our calendar matching the four seasons and the earth’s alignment with the sun.

"Most civilizations were on a lunar calendar, based on the phases of the moon. And the year was about 355 days long.

Even so, Vaniah is a second born in a family of two, and her father has always found it difficult to explain to her why she has to skip her birthday.

"Every time I organise a birthday party for her elder brother, she is always complaining that we have sidelined her," says James Kahahi Mwangi, father to Vaniah.

"When we first held a birthday party for her, she was only four years. She can hardly remember and that is why she is always asking for one," says Kahahi.

"This was my happiest day. I was too young when I celebrated my first birthday to remember. To me, this is my first birthday," says Vaniah, with a smile.

Some people consider Leapers as lucky and others think they are unlucky.

A birthday is considered a unique day, yet others think the wait can be too long. HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANIAH!