Twenty six year-old Alice Awuor Omito from Migori has shocked many after confessing that preparing the dead for burial is the one thing that makes her happy.
The employee of Rosewood Funeral Home in Rongo, Migori County said that she dropped out of nursing school after fears that she would not secure employment after school.
The mortician began working as a morgue attendant at Star Mortuary in Kisumu two years ago, aged 24 before transferring to Rosewood in Rongo and says that she can’t imagine being away from the dead.
“I enjoy spending a better part of my working days with the dead. I can’t imagine staying away from them even for a single working day. I have to go and look at the bodies stored in freezers daily,” she said.
“I discontinued my studies in nursing and pursued mortuary science because of available job opportunities in the latter field. I don’t regret changing professions, not one bit,” Awuor added.
She narrated her journey to being a female in a male dominated field, adding that she has come to love her job, and would not substitute it for another.
“When I was new in this job I had fears and challenges handling the dead, but now I enjoy every bit of my work. I adapted so fast and I am comfortable,” she says.
The mother of one however disclosed the challenges that come with being a mortician, confessing that it has not been a smooth ride for her.
“My boyfriend recently dumped me when I told him that I work as a morgue attendant. Discrimination is just one of the several challenges I face for being a mortician. The challenges are normal though. No job is immune to challenges regardless its nature,” says Awuor.
She revealed why marriage would be her last thing: “I fear my partner would dump me once he gets to know about my job. I don’t want to go through the same experience again.”
So long as you have food on…
So long as you have food on the table for your son. Go ahead gal.
That’s one career allergic…
That’s one career allergic to recession
Kazi ni kazi. Chapa kazi…
Kazi ni kazi. Chapa kazi dada
I’m happy for her but that…
I’m happy for her but that job is creepy as hell
Time to go the “Asian Way”…
Time to go the “Asian Way” after death.
The idea of cremation is alien to all the African cultures. I personally like it because it brings a permanent closure to the dead. It is cheap and eliminates any possible spread of deadly bacteria or viruses that might have been the the causes of the death when the living come in contact with the body of the corpse.
A few years ago in West Africa, the dreaded “Ebola virus” continued to cause more deaths when healthy relatives or friends came in contact with the corpse.
Solution: We need in Africa to adopt East Asian form of greetings. Why? When you greet someone from these cultures, you don’t physically shake their hands! If you meet a Gujarati speakers, you hold your hands firmly and utter these words, “Namaste.” Which means, “I recognize the universe within you.”
I have adopted these greetings from India when I encounter strangers. Instead of saying Namaste, I would say the greeting of the native language of the personal I have met.
It is time to change and abandon the unnecessary expenses that occur in our current “European” way of burial – expensive casket etc.
@Msema Kweli, somebody has…
@Msema Kweli, somebody has to handle the body after death whether cremation is done or not. If somebody dies in home/hospital somebody has to pick the body and take it to the Funeral home. Most likely cremation will not be done the same day that once dies. Pia somebody has to prepare the body for cremation and take body to where it will be burned. In either way people will come into contact with the cadaver……….Infection control is the best way to prevent the spread of diseases.
Yeah but me too I think pple…
Yeah but me too I think pple should b burned,its cheap n looking the way kenya land is becoming less n less it’s beta unachomwa then ur done?Imagine pple burying their 2/6 dead pple in their 1/4 size that means yr building space is less?Ukipeleka yeye langata chances in few years to come anawekelewa mwingine juu so watu wachomwe coz once u die ur gone ur not coming back???
Kenyans should drop the…
Kenyans should drop the tradition that somebody has to be buried in his/her own land. Buy cemetery plots in rural areas because in big cities cemeteries are full. In USA more than one person can be buried in one plot. If the husband dies first he is put at the bottom then the wife will follow on top and so on.
That’s her call. A dead body…
That’s her call. A dead body’s not anything worse than a patient with ebola. Someone’s got to do that job anyway, and we call them Angels from God.