Rainy season brings tragedy

There was a funeral this morning in Lalibela.  Our guide rang in to say that he would be late as the road was blocked with mourners who were coming in from the surrounding villages and already waiting for the funeral to begin.  Yesterday on the road from the airport we saw a donkey laying down on the side of the road which apparently later died. Later that day and night there were very heavy rains which washed the donkey onto the main part of the road where it lay there for a while.  Late evening, a car driven by a young man, newly graduated and returning from his graduation ceremony, swerved to avoid the donkey and because of the muddy slushy water on the road, slid over the edge of the road and rolled down the mountain.  Sadly he died along with his brother and 4 other passengers.  What a terrible tragedy, not only for the mother, who lost two sons in one day, but for the whole village and surrounding areas, where the other victims came from.  In this close-knit community, everyone knows each other.

As we continued on our sight-seeing, we saw many people walking 20 miles or more to come to the funerals, with old women riding donkeys while the younger people walked.  White is the colour of funerals and when we looked out of our hotel balcony we could see a swathe of white as people sat waiting on the hillside for the funeral to start.

Mourners gather for funeral

It is always sad when young people die but it seemed especially poignant as he was returning from his graduation.  We had seen so many proud families with their offspring walking around in Bahir Dar, Gondar and Axum over the past few days; how sad to think that this joy would be followed so closely by such sadness.