The funeral

So I mentioned that I had been to a funeral yesterday. Just for interests' sake, I'll write a little about what that was like - funerals are always a "cultural" experience.

One of the girls who helps us in the guesthouse, Mary, had lost two of her small brothers in an accident in the river. It's really tragic, especially since both boys were from the same family.

When a member of a family dies, everyone comes from far and near to sit in the family compound. So Jackie and I went with Richard and Vicky (the other girl who helps us in the guesthouse) to sit for a little while. We drove up to the compound, and there were probably 100 people sitting around in the yard, just sitting in chairs that had been brought from all corners of the neighborhood, some lounging, 4 or 5 to a bed, others laying on mats on the ground. Richard had to go over to the "men's" side, and we went over to the "women's" side. Mary greeted us, and almost broke my heart how sad she looked. We all gave her a hug, and then some people were ushered off some chairs to make room for us.

Of course, I don't think there were many white folks who were coming and going in that neighborhood, so we were really the center of attention. All eyes were on us as we walked in! Someone was also sent to get us some bottled water and sodas. Thankfully, they also brought some for Vicky and Richard, and not just us white folks! I guess they were treated as honorary special guests because they came with us.

Perhaps because we were the white folks, and few of the women would be able to speak English to us, a few of the men-folk crossed over to the women's side to say a few words to us. They were very kind, actually, in telling us the situation surrounding the boys' deaths, and thanking us for coming to sit with the family.

After a little while, the food started coming out. Everyone was sitting in little groups, and someone came around with a pitcher of water, which they poured over everyone's hands to wash them. Then out came the food on big platters. Though we had just eaten lunch a little while earlier, the food tasted really good, and I ended up eating quite a lot! We had typical food - a flat bread, which is sort of like injera, and made with sorghum, as well as a sort of a porridge, sort of the consistency of dry mashed potatoes, like Kenyan ugali made from maize flour, along with a sauce made from greens and okra. Ok, so the okra sauce was a little slimy, and it was pretty hard to eat with just a few bits of flat bread and mashed potatoes! Plus, we were being watched while we tried to manage this all!

After the food was taken away and cleaned up, I started making faces at all the babies that were gathered around on the women's side. So someone found a baby for me to hold. Of course, this poor child had never seen a white girl before, so she took one look at me and started screaming. So I gave her back to her mommy right away! But she was so cute! Now all the people who were watching us probably think that white girls don't know nothing about holding babies!

As soon as I gave the baby back, I heard Richard give a little whistle. It was time to go. So we all piled back into the car, and compared notes about who we had talked to, and what we had found out. This poor family has seen a lot of death in the past few years - much too much.

Please pray for this family as they mourn the loss of two more children.