Funerals are always sad but today was particularly hard for the local community in Inchanga as we laid little Sanele to rest. For the past couple of days I've spent time with Xolani, Sanele's 16 year old brother, shopping for groceries and other necessary items for today's event. Yesterday we took Nonto, his sister, with us too. The family were extremely grateful for my help but I have to say a huge thank you to the people who are donating money to enable me to help this family at such a tragic time. People here often get funeral insurance to help but obviously at 7 years old, Sanele wasn't thinking of that yet. We are all truly grateful for those donations which have made today possible and brought comfort to the family as they are extremely poor.
Yesterday I took a CD of photos of Sanele to Kodak and let Nonto and Xolani choose the best ones for an album for Nonto to keep. They only had one photo of him previously and he wasn't smiling in it so it wasn't a true representation of what a cheery little boy he really was. The kids were amazed by the machine in the shop and the technology to see pictures of him on screen. Nonto also chose a nice little album to keep the photos in.
Today we headed down to the family home at about 10am. Sanele's body had been brought home yesterday afternoon and the family had kept an overnight vigil in the front room of the crumbling mud-hut home. This morning when we arrived I was ushered into the same room where the coffin was hidden behind a white sheet suspended from the ceiling. The Lionsraw boys came with me, there are 7 here at the moment, and they were escorted into the marquee tent hired for the occasion.
Nonto was, as usual, bucking the trend and refusing to wear her school uniform. Instead she had chosen the most beautiful sparkly pink dress and she looked beautiful. Watching her throughout the day I thought in a way how she is reflecting the place Sanele is in now, and although she shed some tears and is mourning the loss of her brother, maybe in some ways she understands he is in heaven. Many of Sanele's school friends and local children turned up too and a few of them came into the funeral service in uniform and performed a little song and dance dedicated to him. It was really precious but also tragic. Tragic too to think that quite probably this isn't the first funeral that these children have attended and it certainly won't be the last.
I had to take a couple of people up to the burial ground in my car and when I returned, everyone had moved into the marquee and the service had begun. A local minister from the Zion church was there and also the leaders from the Mosque that is situated in the same area. Pretty much everyone from that small area had come along it seemed. As I parked up, the lady in Sanele's family who was leading the funeral rushed over to me and told me I must say a few words. I was glad to be able to share with the family and community just how much Sanele meant to me and the boys and that we all share in their loss. It was a brief speech and thankfully I managed not to break down (although it was very close at the end). Others gave speeches after me including Xolani and one of Sanele's teachers. I understand enough Zulu to feel the love that these people have to him and I shed a few tears then.
A representative from the ANC came too and spoke about the electricity problems in the area of Inchanga. Again, I didn't follow it all, but I think Sanele's death has highlighted to many people just how dangerous the whole business of stealing electricity through illegal wires is. All day long I've seen them in the road and all around. Even at the burial ground there were wires going across the field. The women in particular were careful to point out where those wires were to the children to make sure they didn't walk on them. It is a huge problem and I hope that the local government will learn from this tragedy and do something to improve the situation soon. This being Africa though, nothing happens very fast.
At the end of the funeral service, a man came in and opened up the top of the coffin and everyone walked past and said goodbye to Sanele as they did so. He looked like he was asleep. Women sang beautiful harmonies as the congregation moved outside.
The funeral service actually brought a car back and transported Sanele up to the local burial ground. Lots of kids flocked to my car and I ended up transporting about 20 up there. As we drove round the corner the children started singing. On the way back they all sang the National Anthem, it was really special.
The burial ground is a depressing place, and today, it being Saturday, there were at least 7 graves being dug and small groups of people hanging around. As we walked the final few steps over to Sanele's resting place, the women's singing seemed to take on a different level of tunefulness and, standing there in the beautiful sunshine, there was a sense of peace and acceptance amongst the sadness. Sanele was buried with a beautiful leopard blanket that his brother had chosen, and several other items were put into the grave, some of his clothes and what we think were sweets too.
As we walked back to the car, the children all started to run to get into my car first. 2 of the smaller boys, who were Sanele's best friends, just wailed and were almost inconsolable, I just hugged one of them, there were no words. He understood the situation. Bless him, school will be hard next week. Sanele was a class prefect and always in the middle of any scheme going down in the playground. Everyone will miss him there.
I didn't take any photos today. I didn't need to as this will remain in my memory forever. However I will put some pictures of Sanele up when our internet starts behaving and lets me!
Today truly felt like a fitting tribute and good send-off to Sanele. Although we will acutely feel the loss over the next few weeks and months as we go down to the school and he won't rush out to meet us, we know that he is in a better place and it has been good to be able to help the family as well at this time. Please keep his family in your prayers, especially his sister as she comes to terms with having lost one of her best friends and playmate.
Rest in Peace, Sanele. Hamba kahle. xx
