A Vincentian Funeral

Last Monday, a fourth grade student at the Layou Government School passed away. On Tuesday morning, I arrived at school to hear the sad news of the day. Zendi Thomas, eight years old, had fallen on Sunday evening and had hit his head. He was living with his grandmother and she did not realize that the fall had caused serious damage. On Monday, they went to Kingstown to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital but it was too late. The damage caused initially by the fall was too great and he passed away after visiting hours on Monday evening.

Tuesday morning began with the regular student assembly where the teachers shared the news with the students of their classmate. It was heartbreaking to see the children crying and in shock over their loss. They prayed, sang songs and there were speeches about life and its’ brevity. I am still in my observation period with the school so I was asked to take one of the sixth grade students who was having an especially hard time into my room. Yikes! Grief would be a big challenge without navigating the cultural differences and dialect. I did what first came to mind which was to ask him if he wanted to draw a picture or write a letter to his friend. He said “yes” so I pulled out a piece of paper, colored pencils and a pen. After twenty minutes it looked like he was finishing up so I asked him if he would like to share his letter with me. What followed was the most endearing moment. He read about how much he missed his friend and all of the happy memories they had together; playing football, swimming in Layou and singing their favorite songs. He explained the pictures that he had drawn and how he made Zendi the “#1 football player” since that’s how he would have wanted it. After going through the letter, Ashroy seemed to be doing better so he returned to his classroom. On Tuesday, I learned that the empathy we can have for each other as delicate human beings trumps the cultural divide.

The funeral for Zendi was on Sunday afternoon and boy, what a celebration it was! The service began at 2:30 at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. The building was packed to the gills with family, students from the school and community members. There was singing, bible reading and speeches given to celebrate the life of Zendi. The grandmother sang “Tears in Heaven” as a tribute. There was crying and wailing; it was the sound of broken hearts asking God for help, understanding and peace. After the service, everyone walked up with the casket to the graveyard. The Layou cemetery is at least a mile away from the church up the main road. It was absolutely amazing to see this mass of people walking and singing, celebrating life. It looked like a homecoming parade in a small US town. At the cemetery there was a feel of a festival complete with the sound of trumpets, the laughter of children and the selling of refreshments. I arrived home around 5:45, exhausted and refreshed by my first funeral service in St. Vincent.