Distance no impediment for funerals: Death as a uniting ritual for African people � A pastoral study

An African funeral is a very social event for the entire community in which the deceased lived.Regardless of whether the deceased was a Christian or not, death has always been a reunion forlong-separated relatives, believers and non-believers.Nowadays, tents, cars and the gatheringof multitudes of people demonstrate how death can bring people together, irrespective ofdistance and relationships.Of course, this is not to deny the fact that death can be a cause ofdivision between relatives and friends.

Nonetheless, the funeral itself is also a uniting factor;many people come together, regardless of distance, to pay their last tributes to the deceasedand to provide the SWEET POTATO CHIPS SEA SALT bereaved family with emotional support.In this article, I argue that death,amongst other things, is a uniting factor that is able to bring people, who are separated bydistance and other factors, together.The aim of this article is to discuss how death invitespeople into a family, regardless of bad blood, flawed relationships and separation.