KISUMU — Hired professional mourners performed traditional Luo mourning rituals at the funeral of Tom Ochieng Mima, held just off a roadside outside Kisumu, Kenya. The mourners waved leafy branches and beat them against the ground in rhythm while singing and crying aloud beside the casket, which was shaded from the sun beneath white tents as the body lay dressed in formal funeral finery.
The mourners did not know Mima nor were they friends of his family. They are paid to openly and loudly express grief according to Luo cultural norms, drawing on their own experiences of loss to channel emotion at the ceremonies of strangers. In the poorer western regions of Kenya, professional mourning is a relatively steady and well-paid line of work.
Francis Oyoo, a professional mourner who has worked in the role for two years, typically receives one or two jobs per month and is paid about $80 for each. He began the work after his uncle died in an accident.
"It is a job anyone can do. As long as you are in touch with your emotions and can show empathy." Oyoo said.
James Ajowi has worked as a paid mourner for more than 20 years. His daughter died a few years ago of a lung disease. "It's as if she was preparing me." Ajowi said.
Funeral ceremonies in western Kenya are loud and busy community social affairs, where traditional beliefs blend with Christianity to create a patchwork of religious rites. Professional mourners bolster attendance at funerals and provide comfort to the bereaved. Among the Luo near Lake Victoria, mourning is viewed as both an expression of grief and a form of protection, according to anthropologist Charles Owour Olunga. Death is seen as a transition, and crying, singing, and movement by mourners are believed to help drive away evil spirits. Additional mourners may also help maintain order at large gatherings. Unrelated mourners, typically women, appear at funerals in traditional cultures across Africa and Asia, though it is unusual for men to play the role.
"It is linked to urbanization and commercialization. We are moving away from the authentic, but still holding on to tradition. They add color to an existing process." Olunga said.
African-initiated churches developed in the region in response to strict Christianity's prohibition of Indigenous rituals, according to University of Nairobi research.
"Death is painful. But I also find strength in knowing that one day, I too will die — and people will gather for me." Oyoo said.