The Sunday News
Robin Muchetu, Senior Reporter
DEATH, once again, took me back to our village, Nerutanga in Buhera, Manicaland Province last Wednesday as I joined family members to pay our last respects to our eldest brother, who died in South Africa. May his soul rest in peace.
My previous visit to the village had been five years ago, for yet another bereavement. On arrival we were greeted by an unusually small gathering owing to the strict Covid-19 regulations which have banned all social gatherings with the exception of funerals that have a limit of 30 people.
This was very uncharacteristic of a funeral in the village where people usually gather to pay their last respects to the deceased. Funerals attract a lot of attention in the village as all who knew the deceased, his family turn up to mourn, but the new normal has put a stop to these practices.
The few women who were present were busy by the fire preparing meals, some fetching water and others had to “keep the body company”. It is taboo for the body of the deceased to be left alone, never was the body of the deceased left alone at any moment.
Inside a traditional mud kitchen hut lay the body of our late brother together with his mother, his wife and two other relatives sitting on either side of the coffin. The brown coffin was covered with white lace material. That is something I have observed at several funerals but have never understood why. Is it to protect the coffin from scratches or what?
Others even use a blanket to cover the coffin which is also buried along with the deceased remains.
Being one of the few sisters of the deceased who were present, I was invited to come and sing in the mud hut. My thoughts then wandered, why do we sing for the dead? Most funerals that I have attended, a night vigil is held where women, men, youths take turns to sing and dance all night long, singing for one that has no life in them, one who will not hear the sweet melodies anymore, one who can no longer appreciate their good efforts.
The singing is so passionate as though they were singing for one who can see them. I was also captivated by the type of songs that are sung as I also swung my body left and right to the rhythm of the songs and also clapped my hands in agreement. Many were songs pregnant with meaning for this and many other funerals.
Research states that sometimes, relatives of a deceased use music as a way of communicating their displeasures over the manner in which the deceased died or lived and also communicating to those that are remaining behind.
One that caught my attention was one which said “Tiriparwendo, hazvaigona kumanikidza nguva, nguva ndeya Baba”, loosely translated to no one having control over death and that the time or manner of the death is controlled by the Creator.
One other, which was probably also directed to the living, was a song which goes, “Toenda kunyika ye Canaan, hakuna aroramba. Hakuna ndine mota yangu hakuna….. This song speaks of everyone eventually dying at one point and the acquisition of property, money, children and other things not sparing one from death.
Another popular song at funerals, in jest, is “Ndimi makauraya, hazvina mhosva, pahukama”. This song talks of people accused of killing their own but being told it’s okay to kill your own because you are related!
Music sets the tone for funerals and music is also a method of consoling and giving hope to the bereaved over their loss. Funerals are sad life events, decorated by music and dance to lighten the mood.
So, we sang and sang for our dear brother who had taken his last breath a week earlier and had come home to be buried among his kith and kin. While women were singing and cooking, all the men were a few metres from the homestead at the family cemetery early in the morning digging the grave. The process of digging the grave is filled with interesting things done when people bury their own in the village.
A group of men are “contracted” to dig the grave under the guidance of a builder as the grave walls should be built up to a certain level before soil is filled to cover the remains.
The process in our village is done at the break of dawn on the day of burial and never a day before. One would assume that to save time, the grave must be built a day in advance but this can lead to the family being fined by the traditional leaders of the land. The grave of a deceased must not be dug and remain empty overnight.
A designated family member is assigned to go and point out the exact place where the grave was to be dug, unlike in the city where the councils generally choose for you and allocate space for you to bury your loved one. In the village you are given a special place to be laid to rest.
The first meal for the grave diggers was some tea and bread. Which was to be followed shortly by a feast of isitshwala/ sadza, a lot of meat and a 20litre bucket of water to drink, this is before another meal of sadza at lunch time.
This is done so as to motivate the grave diggers to continue with their hard physical work as they are not remunerated in monetary terms. After that meal, the diggers were to be further motivated by lots of opaque beer (amasese) that is drunk throughout the process. Any delay in availing the food and drink also further delays the grave digging process and sometimes leads to abandonment of the site if the men are not well fed.
At one point the opaque beer was running out and the men were indeed slowing down on the digging and one aunt was tasked to quickly collect money from all of us and two crates of more beer were purchased and in no time the grave had been dug and built inside. It’s necessary not to dampen the mood of the grave diggers.
The burial process is another aspect that varies from one clan to another. The coffin is lowered into the built up grave then wooden planks are placed across the coffin and a zinc sheet placed over the wood to cover everything. Then bricks are placed over that zinc before eventually covering it with a mound of sand. The dirt that was in the room where the coffin was, is also swept, gathered and strewn into the grave. One would assume after digging and placing the coffin inside, it would simply be buried with the earth that was dug out.
Meals are also served in a different manner than any other regular day. Women and girls line up in a single file and carry one plate in hand and serve the mourners no matter their numbers. It is a taboo to carry two plates of food and people are generally not allowed to refuse to eat food prepared at a funeral.
However, many people bury their dead in various ways that may be different from many other cultures throughout Zimbabwe. The different ways vary according to beliefs too. Due to Covid-19 related health regulations on the handling of dead bodies from beyond our borders, we were prohibited from conducting body viewing, leaving many without the much-needed closure after having spent years without seeing their loved one. — @NyembeziMu.
