Ghanaian Funeral
October 1, 2005
I arrived the same time as the ambulance, and followed them into the cemetery as they carried the casket through the grove of trees to a small cemetery where fresh graves were just recently covered, and other graves were open waiting for their caskets. It was a weird feeling to see people walking a long the path with shovels. After a discussion on which grave belonged to the deceased, and what the best way to put the casket in, seven or eight men helped lower the casket into the grave.
Since grave robbers has become so popular here in Ghana, one of the men took a big rock and started to bang up and break the nice parts of the coffin- all the gold pieces on the side and the emblems on top, including breaking and bending the bars that slide through the sides to help carry the coffin. This way it could not be stolen and resold, as other have.
