Grave yards

A common sight in almost every kenyan home one vists! An eyesore at that too! In some compounds, there will be one grave yet in others a numerous number, the largest number of graves i have seen so far in one compound is 12! Astounding! Lying side by side were six and below them another six. In some places you are bound to encounter a deserted coumpound with graves standing watch, weeds grow all over and are especially rich on the graves giving an eeirie look to the whole place! Yet in other places it is a happy family setting boasting of just a single grave!
What never ceases to amaze me though, is the proximity of the graves to the main house!
I come from the Kisii people whose culture dictates that, when a man passes away, he should be buried on the right side of his main house and his wife by his left side. I never knew this untill my grandfather passed away! His grave is almost directly adjacent to the door and when you get out of the house it is the first thing you see, God grant eternal rest to his bones! Old man gave me my first sip of alcohol. That aside, This is the case in almost all kisii families! A grave by the house, or at times graves. I draw from the Kisii community because as a member, i know it well, i have seen how the luo and luhya bury there dead. Incase my kisii friends start getting worked up, please understand that this is just a reference! Why could you want to wake up every morning and see the remains of someone you cared for lying outside? Is it memories you want or dont u just want to let go? Let the Dead rest! It doesnt matter where they have to rest but let them rest! Afterall what choice do they have in the matter? Incase you are scared o ghosts, well, newsflash! They will understand too when they botice that they are encroaching away all the land to make room for graves!
Soon, if a care is not taken, we will turn the land into one big graveyard in the name of sticking to culture! No one culture is stagnant! Culture progresses and changes over time. It is high time kenyans realized that and started burying their dead in cemetaries! Not that i want to play "mwacha mila". Oh i love my culture, but times have changed and the world has moved on. We no longer wear loin clothes and walk with our bossoms bared for all kin and sundry, except for our cousins up north! Now that they have oil i do pray they learn how to dress! Had we been such sticklers of culture, we could still be half naked folks going about their lives comfortably! We could still be living in smoky huts and sleeping on skins! So if we put all this aside in the name of cultural progression, why cant we do the same with graves?
I have heard this one arguement posed evertime i raise this issue. I also think that it is very lame! The arguement goes that when the dead are buried in their compounds, it is a sighn of respect and love! Does it mean that those who cremate their dead love them any less? In any case the love you claim to be giving the dead should have been lavished on them when they were alive. Not when they are with their maker or wherever it is folks go to when they pass on!
Ghost town
Shiny toy guns