I realized today that the office
assistant in my organisation has still not buried his mother.
She passed away after an illness in
June 2014. Their culture I understand states that there must be some ceremonies (i.e. party,as far as i am concerned) as part of the funeral rites. So, to give some time for her
children/other family members to raise funds the funeral was scheduled for
December 2014.
It didn’t make any sense to me. I
felt and still feel they should have buried the woman and have the party or
parties or funeral rites whenever they can. But I don’t think any of them quite
explored that option.
Unfortunately tragedy struck as
they were headed for his mum’s burial in December. His sister unexpectedly passed away. All
the funds raised immediately had to be diverted to transporting her remains
home and towards her own funeral.
I remembered this whole thing
yesterday and it occurred to me his mum is still in the morgue. Didn't any of
their family members just see that in the light of this tragedy both should
have been buried and they can have the funeral rites for the mother whenever they’re able to?
Again this family isn't high up on the income ladder!
From my interactions with the
gentleman it seems they feel constrained by extended family members and the
dictates of their culture. But surely their common sense should count for
something now? Abi?
