Funeral

Today there was a funeral for one of the church members and the Rev said we could go, to see how these things were done in Zambia.

The first part was a service in church. The person who had died was called Margaret. Her coffin was carried in, covered by a cloth and candles lit around it.  Members of the various church choirs stood around the coffin and sang. After the service the coffin was carried to the door and Margaret's face revealed so that we could all file past to pay our last respects. Margaret's daughter was almost prostrate with grief which was very upsetting to witness. Then everyone drove up to the cemetery at Kantolumba for the burial. (See extra)

When we arrived at the cemetery we found the Womens' (Dorcas) choir singing and dancing and we were encouraged to join in. Then we were ushered to a spot nearer the grave so that we could see what was happening. The grave had been dug but was too short, so friends of the family were taking it in turns to jump in and dig it out. Hard work in the heat of the day. Luckily we had a shady tree to stand under as it took an hour or so. 

Finally the hole was large enough and the coffin was lowered in and prayers said. The helpers filled in the hole and the ladies came and made to mound of earth look smooth and neat (see extra). Then flowers were laid on top.

The tradition is that a temporary marker is put on and then a year later there will be a memorial service. This is when a headstone can be erected.

We went back to the church after this and had a tour of the school and the various church building projects. The Rev said we should have a rest after this so we went back to Joyce's house and did just that.