Mr. Happy

August 19th

On Wednesday we walked to school at our normal hour. We weren’t entirely sure as to what the day would entail. I didn’t want to miss teaching my morning class and hoped the funeral would be later in the day. When I returned from my class at 9 AM Lindsay informed me that she received a phone call and that the funeral was at 10 AM. That gave us an hour to walk to Isoko which would be perfect timing. After discussing it with the headmaster we headed into town. When we arrived in Isoko we took the short cut to the church. No one was around. We thought it was a little odd and figured that maybe the service did not start yet. We walked back into town and ran into a friend who directed us to the house of Happy’s uncle which we went to on the previous day. As we approached we realized that there were not as many people as the previous day and that confused us that much more. Luckily, we found our friend who we call “the pastor” and he sat us down and introduced us to various people. The funeral was supposed to begin at 10, but the coffin that the carpenter built was too small so another one had to be built. We were told the funeral should start in a couple of hours.

For a little over two hours we sat and waited and attempted conversation with the men sitting around us. Since Happy worked for the government he had many friends throughout Tanzania. His close friend, a member of parliament, was returning home from Dar es Salaam for the funeral that day. Everyone was waiting in anticipation for the man’s arrival. Around 12:30 the hospital Land Rover approached the house. A group of four men in the back of the vehicle worked together to unload the coffin and bring the body inside the home. Everyone was hysterical. Inside the home, family and friends sat around and said their final goodbyes to Happy. His eldest daughter, his wife, and mother were absolutely distraught. After about ten minutes the coffin came back outside and songs were led throughout the crowd of people. After the first song the crowd’s mood changed, they all became very silent and then a gentleman spoke. He informed them that the Member of Parliament had just arrived. The famous Mr. Kibona walked through the front of the house then into the back where we were standing. He raised his arms in greeting and the place went crazy. People were screaming and crying all around me. I even got a little misty eyed in the turn of events. After some time, a procession of people started to walk past the coffin on their way to the grave site for the service. The women were the first to leave followed closely by the men. During this procession the MP’s wife was so distraught that she fainted as she passed the coffin. The MP directed someone to move her to the side and we kept on walking. We first walked down the mountain into Isoko and then up another mountain to the church but we didn’t stop at the church, we kept on walking. Halfway down this second mountain we stopped and made seats in the woods around a hole in the group. I sat on a tree root a bit of a distance away not sure what to expect. After ten minutes the place was filled. There was nowhere else to sit unless you climbed up a tree. I had people surrounding me on all sides as we sat for two and a half hours watching the ceremony. One after another people went up to speak with a few songs sung in between. Then, we sat and watched the grave become filled with dirt. In one of the speeches Lindsay and I were called out and we had to wave our hands in recognition. I was a bit embarrassed but glad they didn’t ask me to walk to the front as is a typical request at Tanzanian gatherings.

When the service was complete it was well into the afternoon and Lindsay and I walked into town for food before returning to Kafule. The pastor found us at the “restaurant” and invited us to return to the uncles home to mourn with the family. I had plans with my students to play netball and so we said our goodbye’s and promised to return on Thursday. I didn’t want to leave school early on a third day in a row but saw no way around the promise. After returning home on Wednesday and playing net ball for two and a half hours I was exhausted. I only teach one class on Thursday mornings and was done rather early. Lindsay and I decided it would be better to walk to Isoko early in the day so we would not be stuck down there for the evening. When she completed teaching at 1 we started the journey (again) to Isoko. As soon as we entered the village we ran into the pastor and walked with him to the uncle’s house. Fewer people were present than on the previous days’. We walked around saying “pole sana” to all and then sat and waited. Happy’s wife was finally receiving food after not eating for two days and so we had to wait until she was finished. After an hour and a half we walked into the back room of the house to express our condolences before we headed home for the day. We didn’t reach home until 5:15 in which I was already exhausted. That, however, did not stop me from playing net ball with some of the students.

Today, I am tired and taking the day to relax. I taught only one class again today so I have much free time to put up my legs and read.

Love,

Gretchen