A LONG FUNERAL

Welcome to a Funeral!

We are at a funeral . We arrived and were immediately, after hugging the widowed pastor, invited to wash our hands and eat rice and stewed beef. That done, we proceeded out of the newly constructed house to the compound. In Kuria, a body cannot be buried on a plot of land. There must be a house, and the deceased must “sleep” there at least one night. The pastor had been living elsewhere, so this week before the funeral of his wife, he quickly constructed a house. Poles and mud with a mabati roof and a choo. (toilet) went up in a few days. He is a well loved pastor, one of our alumni, and his sweet wife and himself were in a motorcycle accident. She suffered a broken leg, and was doing well, then 17 days later just suddenly died. Very tragic.

We are now seated in a huge sweet potato field. It surrounds the house. It is very hilly, so we sit very carefully in plastic chairs that are not meant for dirt. We are slightly uphill in front, and slightly downhill to the side. We just hope they don’t flip or fold!

We are downwind from the coffin. It’s  been out of the morgue since yesterday morning so that it could “sleep “ here one night. The temperature has been 30+ C  or 90F. However, someone sits by the coffin to help with those who want to view the body, and also to spray room spray as needed.

The program gives a long list of who will speak, so we are going to be here awhile. Endurance of long events is a requirement of missionary life. We sit. Of course it’s mostly in Kuria, sometimes with translation into Swahili. We miss most of what is said. We get the “gist” as our friend who came with us gives us an update now and then. We are under an awning which is nice.

The place is packed! All the open space outside the awning, and in the center in front of us, is filling up. People stand, and sit. It is amazing how long people can sit on the ground with their legs straight out in front of them! Children climb any available tree. People of all ages attend,  dressed in their best.

One man comes in leading a group of other men. They proceeded right to the coffin, pray, and salute.   They march over to the “honor” seating, a lime green couch. Bob wondered if the man was as important as he thought he was. Turns out we know him! He is a polygamist who recently chased his second wife away for not having children.

The grave has been dug close by,  the dirt and rocks are beside it. Several small children play in the dirt.

The grave is very deep, the first 5 feet or so lined with brick, and then the bottom 5 feet lined with white tile. This is a new, modern grave. But there are no frills, like fake green “grass” carpeting, it’s all dirt and rocks around at the top. It is situated by the house. On the way to the toilet.

There are such changes! In the old days, we always had soda. Warm soda. Now, bottled water has arrived in Kenya so we are handed that throughout the long day. We really appreciate it as neither of us are soda drinkers anymore. By this time, we have been sitting for 2 ½ hours! 4 of the 12 categories of speakers have finished. Then the burial will take place.

There are 2 video cameras going, so they have anyone who speaks stand in the middle, in front of the coffin, which resides on a coffee table, in the bright sun, so as to get good video! The heat bothers no one, and some ramble on and on. And on. It is Kenya, after all, and the sun always shines! 

We are told some of the tributes: the father in law of the deceased said she was the best wife, and if all women could be like her, the world would be a better place. She had been married at the age of 14, as soon as she finished grade 8.

Woahhhhhh……my chair just succumbed to the terrain and began to tip! I sensed it was going, and leaped up, so as not to somersault into the people behind me. Everyone around said sorry  as Bob helped reestablish my chair. I will now perch very precariously , we only have about 4 more hours to go.

The choirs here mostly don’t sing. They record cd’s, play them and lip sinc and do all manner of gyrations and motions, not necessarily having anything to do with the words of the song. To make up for poor recordings, they turn up the volume! We were glad there were only two choirs for the event.

After the wide assortment of relatives speak, the friends and church people have their time. All saying mostly what they were able to do for the deceased.

However, a really good thing that happened, the family of the deceased spoke. There were 5 children, older, and two of the sons gave glowing tribute not only to their mom but to God. Seems their parents have raised them well and they are living a good life. The pastor also gave a great tribute to his wife. One of the relatives had said that the pastor was “ Now young again, so our clan has another wife for you!” The pastor said he is not young, and will seek God’s will for his life, not rushing to remarry! The tribute of the family was in three languages, so we got to hear most of what was said. It is not often that a whole family will speak. Sometimes really bad things are said, which was new to us when we first came.

A dog wanders into the center, seeking shade. The table where the coffin rests provides a shady spot, but the dog is soon chased away.

The day gets hotter. Umbrellas spring up everywhere, as some succumb to  sleep. According to our friend who gives the updates, he says nothing!  Now and then a cell phone rings. Finally, the speaker of the day delivers a very loud but powerful sermon. There is a time of prayer for the family. An offering is taken, and then they begin to introduce the politicians. There are about 6 of them!

 At this time, having been here 7 hours, we feel we can leave. The body will be buried before dark, but we have been defeated by the heat and precarious seating. We go home.