The Funeral

I went to my first Kenyan Funeral on Thursday. When someone loses a family member it is common for their employer to send representatives to the funeral to pay their respects. Beldina’s sister-in-law passed away so a group of us spent the Thursday afternoon at the funeral and burial in a village near Ahero, about a one-hour drive from Kisumu.

It appeared that just about everyone from the village was in attendance. Although the service was held mostly in the local language of Luo, there were some words spoken in English. It was an Anglican service and there must have been about 8 ministers orchestrating the event, with each taking their turn speaking. It was an open-casket funeral and we all passed by the coffin to pay our respects and to place a small amount of money in a basket to help the family pay for the service. The service didn’t seem all that different from one at home, with the most noticeable difference being women singing a variety of songs while the coffin was being buried.

I believe that the deceased woman’s name was Lorna, she was 32 and she died of AIDS. She had been infected by her husband who had died five years ago. Fortunately, they left no children.