Alie Touw, Centenarian

In the first week of our crowdfund, 60 people have contributed £6,198 and so far we have reached 24% of our £25,000 target to publish the book. Click here to support publication of Sarah Ainslie’s WOMEN AT WORK ‘I am an optimist, most of the time’ – Portrait by Sarah Ainslie ‘I don’t know how it happened!’ declares centenarian Alie Touw, shaking her head and raising her hands with a smile of mock bewilderment if you ask the secret of her longevity. ‘I have so many things wrong with me and I fell over several times, but I keep getting up again.’ With her shock of white hair and keen green eyes, Alie sits peacefully and keeps her counsel. High above Petticoat Lane, Alie lives in a small flat where she peers down upon the City to the west and Spitalfields to the east, observing the relentless passage of life below and contemplating the ironies of existence. Each week, she ventures out to buy food at the supermarket and savour the exoticism of our present age. I doubt if many of those who…