My First Ugandan Burial

Last week I attended my first burial in Uganda…oh did I feel out of place. I have not attended very may funerals in the states (which is a good thing}. I have a feeling this burial was the first of many while I am here in Uganda.  Burial ceremony’s are a time when the whole community comes together and everyone that has ever met that person attends (or in my case never met them at all}. Burial ceremonies last for hours on end are hot and you cant understand a word they are saying (in my case at least…I didn’t even get to try to understand with my minimal Luganda skills as the ceremony was not even in Luganda. The ceremony was for a former students mother who has passed away. Ceremonies I have heard normally last about 8 hours or so…luckily Deborah (my counterpart} Winnie (children of Uganda social worker} and I went late and got there around 2pm and stayed until it was over around 43Opm. On this day it was one of the hottest days since I have been here and there was no shade as we had gotten there late so all the shaded areas were taken. I was tempted to stead someones seat on the ground under trees when they would get up and peek around the corner to stare at me the only mzungu (white person/foreigner} in attendance. I did not get to see most of the ceremony as we were on the other side of the house but the little bit I did get to see a man give a eulogy (or at least I assume this is what it was as I could not understand any of it} and while giving this he had his finger in his nose the entire time. I wanted to go over and get him a tissue from the bathroom or something because he obviously needed one the full 4O min he was talking.  This lady was buried in the garden of her home next to her late husband who had earlier been moved from another location so that they could be together and in the area where their children are now residing. After the casket was carried off the kitchen table and put into the ground many people in attendance took a handful of dirt and tossed it over the casket. The casket was not completely covered in dirt but rather a piece of tin was placed over the gaping hole and then they will build a tomb over that…I had always assumed the dirt that was taken out was just put back in but either I am wrong or we do things differently in the states.  I can cross burial off my checklist of things to attend while in Uganda…next up will hopefully be a little more joyful occasion like a wedding!