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| designs of caskets |
In Ghana and the
world funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, respecting, sanctifying, or remembering
the life of a person who has died. In a simpler form funeral is a ceremony
marking a person’s death. Customs vary
widely between cultures, and religious affiliations within cultures.
Ghana comprises
of various ethnicities with different cultures, but when it’s about funeral, I
think all ethnicities apart from the Northern sector and other few have similar
way of organising funeral. From my perspective I believe funeral is done to
give the dead some sort of final respect and honour. But is that what we are
really seeing in some today’s funeral ceremony? If the dead could come and give
final judgement on how their funeral ceremony were made, am sure lots of the
ceremony will not be accepted, especially when the dead involve died because of
hunger, inadequate money for treating diseases, betrayal by family or friends
and etc. The needs and support needed by the dead has at the time he /she was
alive was not given, so why giving when the person is dead now.
I am saying this with the greatest honour of
respect, it is in such funerals you will see the meaning of unnecessary extravagance,
the definition of hypocrisy, definition of adultery, definition of glutton, definition
of drunkenness, imbursement by grieved family members, lavishly spending and
other immoral activities, and this a places where people are suppose to mourn.
A former Minister and a current legislator in
Ghana Hon. Alban Bagbin once said “We are investing in the dead rather than the
living...and that is bad”. I understand that in some communities in Ghana aside
the caskets makers and other stakeholders in the funeral business, some people
wish for more exciting funerals in the community.
However, other
funeral ceremonies are not like that, family and friends from different parts
of the world come together to pay their last respect to a deceased loved one or
to sympathise with bereaved friend. It is also creating the opportunity to
bring family and friends come together once again and mourn en bloc.
Watch out for an Upcoming Documentary on Funerals in Ghana.
By.....Martinz D’ Pen
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