Wednesday, November 24, 2004
A funeral
I'm actually kind of amazed that I have been in the country for almost 6 months and it has taken me this long to get to a funeral.
On Sunday afternoon, the son of a woman in our office passed away. He was 2 years and 4 months. He has been in and out of the hospital for about a month now, but it was still a pretty big shock. That afternoon, we gathered first at the hospital mortuary, and then at the family's home - the men waited outside, while the women went into the house. It had been cleared of all furniture, and we all sat on the ground. The casket was put in the middle of the room, and we sang hymns and prayed until the vehicles came. When someone dies in Malawi, her/his body is taken home - to wherever the person was born. This is the most expensive part of funerals - gas is not cheap here. So the body was taken to a village near the Zambian border on Sunday evening.
On Monday, we took two or three hospital vehicles to go to the funeral. There was a short service in the village, and then we walked to the grave site. There was a longer service here - the body was first put into the ground, and then speeches were made by the families, the hospital, the police (the boy's father is a police officer), and the village headmen. After the speeches, wreaths of flowers were laid on the site. There was a sermon after that, and then we ate lunch together.
Anyway, it was pretty sad. He was so young, and this family already has so many other issues that they are dealing with. Sadly, that's not unique in Malawi - everyone has issues that they are dealing with, aside from those closest to them dying.
Please keep my friend and her family in your prayers over the next few weeks.
On Sunday afternoon, the son of a woman in our office passed away. He was 2 years and 4 months. He has been in and out of the hospital for about a month now, but it was still a pretty big shock. That afternoon, we gathered first at the hospital mortuary, and then at the family's home - the men waited outside, while the women went into the house. It had been cleared of all furniture, and we all sat on the ground. The casket was put in the middle of the room, and we sang hymns and prayed until the vehicles came. When someone dies in Malawi, her/his body is taken home - to wherever the person was born. This is the most expensive part of funerals - gas is not cheap here. So the body was taken to a village near the Zambian border on Sunday evening.
On Monday, we took two or three hospital vehicles to go to the funeral. There was a short service in the village, and then we walked to the grave site. There was a longer service here - the body was first put into the ground, and then speeches were made by the families, the hospital, the police (the boy's father is a police officer), and the village headmen. After the speeches, wreaths of flowers were laid on the site. There was a sermon after that, and then we ate lunch together.
Anyway, it was pretty sad. He was so young, and this family already has so many other issues that they are dealing with. Sadly, that's not unique in Malawi - everyone has issues that they are dealing with, aside from those closest to them dying.
Please keep my friend and her family in your prayers over the next few weeks.
