The role of professional mourners is an unlikely but relatively steady job in Kenya’s poorer western regions, where traditional beliefs blend with widespread Christianity to create a unique patchwork of religious rites. Wailing and emotive displays of grief help fulfil the grieving process and also fill a necessary void.
The body of Tom Ochieng Mima is dressed in formal funeral finery as family and friends settle into plastic chairs beneath white tents off the roadside.
Wails pierce the air in a mix of lyrical song and unrestrained cries; a group of mourners wave leafy branches and beat them against the ground in a rhythm. Professional mourners who are hired to openly and loudly express grief in line with local Luo cultural norms are among those present, their emotive display filling the emptiness and comforting the bereaved.
Mima, who was 64, was late in life, and his death represented a transition, with death seen as a transition, with mourning not only about grief but also protection against evil spirits. The role of professional mourner is an unlikely but relatively steady job, providing a modest but steady income for those involved
Professional Mourners Luo Culture Death As Transition Angina
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