Culture

Today my husband and I went to a funeral. Franco's brother died. After
going to the burial site we walked back to where everyone was gathered.
There were hundreds of people sitting on mats. The women and men don't
sit together. So I respectively went to sit with the women even though I
would have preferred sitting with my husband.

While sitting on the mat with the women I talked to Naomi. "Why wasn't
Franco a the burial place," I asked. "He is looking for a goat because
he has to feed all these people," she responded. She told me that
actually Franco was there but left right after they lowered the body
because he was in a hurry to find a goat. Franco and his wife have to
feed all these people. I looked around with amazement. Everyone here,
hundreds of people, are waiting to be feed, and that's the
responsibility of the dead person's family. Why? That is terrible. The
family is the one that is hurting the most yet they have to carry this
burden.

I also learned from my friend Bronwyn who lives with Franco's family
that last night the mother of the dead man was up and down throughout
the night. Visitors were coming and coming. The poor mom was so
exhausted that she eventually decided to just lay down on a mat to try
to get some sleep. But the people just kept coming, they would even go
over and shake her awake just so they could shake her hand.

Sometimes it is difficult for me to understanding some of the culture
here. I believe that some things about Chadian culture are good and some
things are bad. That is true about every culture. Today I think I saw
some bad culture. It is so sad to me to see what the family has to go
through when one of their loved ones dies. Not only do they go through
the heartache of loosing their loved one but they also, at the same
time, have to be hosts to hundreds of people. They don't have to feed
hundreds of people the day of the funeral only, but they have to feed
them 3 days!