Day 46

Funerals

Being in Ghana does make you more aware of your own mortality.  I was at the funeral of a friend’s brother, a Head Teacher in his 30s (I think), my friend’s younger brother.

As is tradition here, he had a burial not long after his death, followed by a funeral a few months later.  Funerals can be years and years later sometimes, if the family has to save up and the person who has died is a chief or other important person in the community.  Thomas’s burial and funeral were Catholic, but often funerals are very traditional affairs, with war dances.  As Thomas was a young man, the funeral was more sombre.

In this picture, you can see my two colleagues in their funeral attire.  She is wearing funeral colours (blacks, reds, browns), though many people just wear their best clothes, whatever colour they may be.  He is wearing a smock – which is best described as the Ghanaian equivalent of a kilt!  (I know people don’t often wear kilts to funerals or work, but it was the best description I could come up with for an American friend who didn’t know about kilts!)