Ethiopian goverment spends 100 million dollar on hiring funeral mourners for Zenawi's funeral

[Carafaat]

Proffesional funeral mourners.

 

During the recent funeral of former Prime Minister of Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian goverment hired 1000.000 Professional funeral mourners. The organisation of funerals and funeral ceremonies are full of paradoxes and curiosities. One of the biggest curiosities of funerals are the professional tear shedders: Women who offer their services of crying during funeral ceremonies.

 

Tears are money

Whereas we often say that time is money, for professional mourners, the term “tears are money” is perhaps a better fit. Clearly shedding tears for others is also a way to earn money.

 

Indeed it’s a common practice in Ethiopia to solicit professional mourners, or for friends who want to show their support to families in mourning by sending mourners to participate in funerals in order to create a more sorrowful atmosphere. This offering is referred to as the “support of tears” to a bereaved family during funerals.

 

Passion for the job

With the goal of obtaining bank notes, mourners are there during the act of putting the corpse in the coffin, during the transfer of human remains as well as at the burial. They have no relation to the family or the deceased but during the funerals they cry wholeheartedly. The will also mime if the sadness caused by the departure of the dead succeeds in arousing tears and moans from the parents of the deceased and the people who have come to pay their respects.

 

"When they don’t manage to show their tears in public, they push their performance to the extreme. Sometimes they pull out their hair, scratch their face, hit their head against the wall,” described an attendant of the recent funeral of Melez Zenawi.

“Even if they are paid for this job, you have to have the passion for it!” adds one of the hired mourners. Asked about her fee and how much she earns along with her colleagues for one performance at a funeral and she will tell you in a diplomatic way: “We cannot say how it works. Its death, it’s sad! But we earn a living with what we do. And the funeral Melez Zenawi will provide us enough income my family can live of for the coming years.

[Carafaat]

The Ethiopian goverment really did its best to show the world it stands firm and it has the support of the people. But no funeral can hide the will of the masses.

[Somalia]

Carafaat is a sneaky nigga, no doubt about that.

[Carafaat]

Faroole led the Somali delegation of Proffesional mourners.

[NGONGE]

Stuff and nonsense....