Burials......

We went to two burials, yesterday, we went to the burial of Emmanuel and today to the burial of Joshua. It goes so very different than in the West. As you can see on the picture, in the middle is the bed, with the coffin on it and everybody sits around it. When you arrive, someone of the family brings you to the coffin and you can see the person through a window, or the coffin is open. This is very emotional for many people, they cry and shout and sometimes fall on the floor. After seeing the person, they escort you to the place where you can sit. This picture is of Joshua's burial, there were many big  mango trees, so there is a lot of shade. When there are not so many trees, they hang big cloths, where people sit under in the shade. there is a lot of noise and a lot of introduction of relatives and special people.

There are also a lot of speeches and some people use this time to have political speeches. I was also asked to say something on both burials. I used the opportunity to talk about HIV/AIDS, that people should be more open and take their medicines every day, I talked to the youth that they should be careful and really if Emmanuel and Joshua had taken their medicines daily these burials would probably not be there. I also tried to ask people not to be hostile to HIV+ people, but to encourage them and be kind to them.

These introductions  speeches go on for hours, then the church takes over with a small service, singing, praying and preaching and then they carry the coffin to the grave that they were digging behind the hut. A small prayer and a song and the coffin is lowered in the grave. Everybody goes back to sit and a meal is served. A meal is cooked for hundreds of people. then some men work at the grave to close it.