The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
GOGO Lorna Moyo* 67, is a broken woman, she lost three of her siblings to Covid-19 and failed to bury any of them as the pandemic was at its peak when the deaths occurred.
Burials were limited to strictly 30 people, however because of her advanced age and various underlying conditions she also got the virus as she was caring for two of the siblings when they fell ill and could not attend the funerals.
Body viewing was completely out of the question and relatives could not wash the body of their deceased as per tradition.
However, a year after the deaths which occurred in a space of three months, Gogo Moyo is still troubled. She has not managed to oversee the distribution of clothes (ukucitha imphahla/kugova mbatya) for her siblings as per the African and particularly the Shona and Ndebele cultures.
African tradition dictates that when a person is deceased, a specified amount of time is allowed to pass before their clothes and other personal items are shared among his children and immediate family.
The items are usually tied together in a cloth or bed sheet, and not distributing them is taboo and is said to ‘tie’ down the fortunes of the family.
Gogo Moyo, like many others, is still holding on to heaps of clothing items and property that is yet to be distributed.
Covid-19 disrupted the way of life. Marriage, death, traditional and cultural rites that African people used to follow with detailed discipline before the pandemic are wearing away in quick motion and it has been difficult for people to accept the new normal.
Renowned culturalist and historian Pathisa Nyathi believes there are some negative effects for holding on to clothing and property belonging to a deceased person and failing to distribute them on time.
“There are negative effects for that, cultural practices have a rhythm in the sense that when this happens, the next that should follow is that and so on and is understood that way in given communities.
However, when there are breaks in rhythm it creates problems within the body and soul because most of the things being referred to are matters of spirit,” he said.
Nyathi highlighted that African practices follow a particular rhythm and pattern that should be practiced systematically.
“They have to be done according to a certain pattern, a rhythm, you allow a certain amount of time to lapse after which things must happen and when they do not happen as expected, that has a negative impact on an individual, which is another way of saying it is coming with social and psychological costs.
“It leaves a sense of guilt when this has not been done, and a sense of guilt is very negative. It bites into your self-confidence and when you lose your confidence you become a demotivated individual who will not do much in life,” said Mr Nyathi.
He said Covid-19 has had an enormous impact on African cultural practices and it has come with costs for a group-based people like Africans.
“The coming of Covid-19 meant we could not get together to undertake certain spiritual rituals that had to be taken together. Remember when we meet, we meet as groups and part of a lineage and when we no longer meet then it means something has gone wrong.
“Ukuchitha impahla is one of those functions/practices that must follow the death of an individual, we differ as communities in terms of time that is allowed to lapse before those clothes are distributed but the bottom line is that it must be done,” he added.
“Sometimes they tie them together (clothes of the deceased) and when they are tied and remain tied, that has a negative effect to the relatives.
“Ukubopha (tying together), we all know what it means, it does not matter what culture you are, Shona, Tonga or anything, it’s the same, the concept of tying is very negative.”
Mr Nyathi highlighted the need for traditional practices to be followed through to their finality when the pandemic is over.
“As communities we really look forward to the end of this pandemic, we hope there is not going to be another variant of Covid-19 that may further prolong the social, cultural and spiritual suffering that Africans have had to endure since the onset of Covid-19.
“We may have to endure even more, which is a disturbance of our cultural practices where these practices are being discontinued or temporarily suspended,” he lamented.
The historian said these disturbances have serious implications on people.
“It implies hefty costs among believers of these things. If they don’t do them, there are serious repercussions of a spiritual, social or cultural nature. It means the suffering will continue.
“We do however see a reduction in Covid-19 cases that are being reported but we are not out of the woods yet so anything can happen as the virus is very mischievous. It can come back in another form which we did not anticipate and that will spell more suffering,” he added.
Dr Kudzanai Wini-Dari a community psychologist and member of the Zimbabwe Psychological Association said Covid-19 has brought a lot off losses in various forms.
“Covid-19 has brought with it tangible and intangible losses and many people find themselves grieving. At times the loss is very tangible but, in some instances, it is intangible such as the loss of rites of passage, cultural and social practices.
“Think of people that could not bury their loved ones due to travel restrictions, people who could not conduct body viewing, perform cultural rites linked to the property of the deceased. All these cultural practices play a crucial role in giving closure to the family members of the deceased,” she said.
She said in some cases there was skepticism and questions if people buried the correct bodies of their loved ones which adds to psychological trauma.
“Some families are not even sure if the person they buried is truly their relative. All this leads to an incomplete cycle of grief which can manifest in certain behaviors that deviate from the norm as people try to make sense and understand their world,” said Dr Wini-Dari.
She said it was critical to get psycho social support as the consequences of leaving the psychological wellbeing of communities unattended were far reaching.
She also said school children lost out in attending related ceremonies such as interhouse sporting activities, prize giving days, leavers dinners, rugby, soccer or basketball season.
“All this affects the growing child and may cause distress too,” she said.
Dr Wini-Dari and Mr Nyathi concurred that there would come a time when Covid-19 would go away and encouraged society to be patient and ensure that human seed survives as it is that human seed that ensures continuity of culture.
@NyembeziMu
