The Sunday Mail
Naked we enter this world, and naked we leave it.
Twenty-three unclaimed bodies, including 12 babies, at Marondera Provincial Hospital mortuary were buried last week
For the very poor, that ending is almost literal, bowing out of this mortal orb by way of a pauper’s burial. Usually buried in mass graves and without coffins in some instances, paupers reach their final destination in circumstances even more shameful than those of wild animals.
And in Zimbabwe, pauper’s burials have become extra indigent as many State hospitals simply do not have the money to decently inter unclaimed bodies. This phenomenon was typified by the manner in which 23 unclaimed bodies, including 12 babies, at Marondera Provincial Hospital mortuary were buried last week.
Most of the bodies were decomposing as they had been lying unclaimed in the hospital’s morgue, which is in a state of disrepair, since last year.
Had the hospital not entered into partnerships with companies such as Doves, what may have become the bodies remains a puzzle as they were simply being stored with no plans in place despite the overwhelming stench of putrefaction.
The burials were hastily conducted without relatives and friends available to put flowers or markers on their final resting place. Only strangers were around. Hospital staff, Doves officials and a few passers-by, braved the freezing weather and the punishing stench to witness the sending off.
Although polished coffins and flowers provided by Doves went a long way in making the burials more humane, the dry eyes all around said it all.
A group of female attendants sang a few Christian verses, and they too would shuffle off as the last coffin was lowered.
In barely two hours it was all done. Twenty-three souls buried without so much as a cultural ceremony, no graveside speeches and not one wail. All there was were the few mournful verses and the sermon and a prayer from a minister of religion.
Social commentators say this is a microcosm of a changing social fabric.
It has raised questions as to why the phenomenon of unclaimed bodies continues to persist, especially in a society built on a culture which emphasises extended family values and the sanctity of friendship.
How a human being can end up being buried without the knowledge of even a single relative or friend is numbing.
And nothing was more morbid than the sight of babies lying unclaimed. Where were the mothers and fathers? How did these young innocents end up dying and being buried all alone?
Hospital authorities say the majority of unclaimed bodies come from charity homes, or are the unidentified victims of accidents. In the mix are also the destitute, who die in the streets, and babies abandoned by parents in hospitals and elsewhere.
“As you have seen there are 12 babies, they are normally left behind by mothers who cannot afford to bury them, so when they go they never come back,” said Marondera Hospital administrator Mr Albert Mutsinze.
“Also, for the adults, we mainly get them from charity homes because the homes do not have the money to bury the bodies.
“Before we go on to do the burials we advertise on radio and television for a while so that we can get the message to those who may be missing their relatives so that they can come and see if their relatives are among the unclaimed bodies.”
Many of those who end up in charity homes may have had problems with their relatives or are people who migrated from other countries and do not have roots here.
For example, 90-year-old Mr Kurwa Nyamuzuwhe who stays at a home in Highfield last week said that he had no children or relatives to take care of him.
“I never had a girlfriend, but now as old as I am, I feel I could have married one of the girls I worked with. I always admire the young children who visit some of our colleagues here.”
In Zimbabwe’s cultural beliefs, one’s spirit cannot rest until they have been buried by their relatives with all cultural procedures followed.
Social commentator and Zimbabwe Traditional Medical Practitioners’ Association president Sekuru Friday Chisanyu said the spirits of those given paupers’ burials may come back to haunt their families.
“Misfortunes can happen to the family of the deceased who are buried with strangers without their family knowing and this includes paupers. This is because the spirit of the dead does not rest unless they are buried with their relatives with all the cultural procedures followed,” he said.
“Unemployment, sickness, marriage problems and even death can be caused to the family of the deceased as a way of forcing them to address the issue.”
According to Sekuru Chisanyu the deceased can alert his or her family of where they are buried through spirit mediums or dreams so that their remains would be reburied.
He said if the remains could not be found, the family would slaughter a goat and bury the head under the circumstances of a normal funeral.
“In some cases the deceased alerts his family of where he is buried and instructs them (through a spirit medium or dreams) to be re-buried,” said Sekuru Chisanyo.
“If the remains cannot be located for whatever reasons, a head of a got will have to be buried in a similar way that you would bury a human.”
He, however, said the dead can also see if their families are not at fault and can just lie at peace no matter the circumstances of their burial. The continued rise of unclaimed bodies has however spelled doom for various hospitals countrywide as funds to bury them are not forthcoming.
Officials at State hospitals said their mortuaries were laden with unclaimed bodies.
“Basically pauper burials are a burden of the Ministry of Social Welfare but because of economic challenges they have not been able to carry out these duties,” said Mr Mutsinze.
“So we have been engaging private players to do pauper burials for the hospital, to ensure that unclaimed bodies are claimed from the hospital. We (Marondera Hospital) are not the only ones facing this problem but that’s how it is in most State hospitals across the country.”
Doves MD Mr Kenneth Chigananda said they wanted to accord decent burials to those who had no one to claim their bodies.
“It is our duty as an institution to give all funerals a decent burial. That’s why we are aiming to make this a countrywide thing. We started with Chitungwiza Hospital, now in Marondera and we have partnered with them to fix their morgue which was not in a good condition.”
Comment could not be sourced from the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Ministry last week.
