14 DAY TRIAL // A burial in Ghana is by no means an ordinary one. That's because each coffin is a small art work, reflecting the fantasy of the local craftsmen. The local habit forces the family to spend a lot with the "throne" (coffin) so that to commemorate and tell the life story of the deceased person. Craftsmen around Accra, the capital of Ghana, specialized in making wooden imaginative coffins for this purpose. The coffins usually speak about a detail, a significant fact, a symbol of the dead, illustrating the profession, hobbies, social status of the dead.
Making a coffin can take a month, but its expressiveness is what does count. Meanwhile, the body of the dead is preserved at the morgue. A remarkable work can mean the wedge of a Ghanaian for one year. It can be said that a Ghanaian works to gain enough money so that he/she will be buried with great pomp. And with all these, the coffin makers have a lot of demands, even from outside Ghana.
The ceremony is half Christian, half traditional. The burial is made following the Christian rite, but the coffin is splashed with the blood of a sacrificed animal, usually a ram, for getting the benediction of the dead (Voodoo has its roots in this area). The family will bury the dead together with some of its personal objects, jewels and even an amount of money.
The price of the coffin is only a part of the funerals, which can even last up to one week. All the relatives (closer or remoter) will be present; they will be hosted and dined; to them, add the neighbors and the dead's friends, who must be treated like kings with plenty of food and drink, music and dance.
The day of the burial is destined to dirges and tears, especially for the widow (who must express her grief as loudly as possible, still for a week after the burial).
After 2-3 days of mourning, the atmosphere relaxes but the expenditure keeps on going. Only that this time, the guests participate also with gifts and money. When the money is gone, the whole mourning meeting makes a public subscription, stopping passengers and asking for their contribution. There are even assistance societies which make the fund raise.
The main motivation for such colossal funerals is avoiding ghosts! Ghanaians have such a strong cult of the forebears that they rarely eat without dropping some crumbs, as offerings, but they do not want to meet their ghosts.
These funerals are also ostentation gestures, an exhibition of richness and generosity. A nice burial is the guarantee that the dead will remain calm, watching over the living and giving them a long and rich life in change for those honor.
