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.
