Making a living from Kenya's dead

Anne Mawathe
BBC News, Nairobi

The Eastleigh quarter in Nairobi is dominated by Somalis

The mystery of death and the spectre of dying are things most Kenyan communities avoid like the plague.

In the past, the dead were left in the forest to rot away or get eaten by wild animals.

Now many Kenyan communities prefer an elaborate ritual and a decent burial for the departed.

But the stigma remains - and finding people who will wash and preserve the body ready for burial is no easy task.

Desperate times

The incentive of earning about $5 per body is too much for the very poorest to resist, but few are publicly willing to admit to doing the job in the capital.

Caroline (not her real name) is a widow with three children living in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh - home to many Somalis.

It is upon Muslims to wash their brethren Sheikh Khalfan Hamis, Chairman, Council of Muslim Scholars

She recalls her first assignment to wash a dead body with revulsion.

"The first time, I was very scared but because of my problems I just had to overcome my fear of the dead and do it," she said.

"Since then I view it just like any other job."

In addition to washing cadavers, she works as a casual labourer at a local guest house in Nairobi but that does not pay all the bills.

Those who approach her to wash the corpses of their departed relatives are mainly Muslims.

The Islamic faith demands that the body be washed and dressed before burial.

"I have lots of regrets. If I had a husband or someone to support me I wouldn't do such a thing," Caroline said.

"I know some women are dying day and night because of prostitution to support their families but to me it is better to earn a little and survive."

She comes from the Kamba community in eastern Kenya and their culture abhors any contact with the dead.

But she says this will not stop her from caring for her children.

And Caroline is not alone.

Desperate measures

Joseph (again not his real name) also supplements his low-paid full-time job by cleaning corpses.

According to him, the dead are tended at a mosque near the cemetery where they are to be buried.

"This is not a good job," he says. "But when I consider my plight, I just clean them."

"If I get such opportunities, I take them up but I do not pray that people die so that I get a job," he added.

On a typical assignment, they would wash the corpse then wrap it in a white piece of cloth known as kharfan, before it is handed over to the relatives for prayer and later on burial.

But since most of the people who carry out the ablutions are not Muslims, they are closely monitored by a Muslim elder.

Religious rules

Ahmed Noor is a resident of Eastleigh and he says that although in principle Muslims are not allowed to engage people of other religious beliefs to take up this job, there are occasions when some people will employ non-believers.

"The problem is stigma - for example if someone dies of Aids some believe it is a taboo for a Muslim to even go near the dead person," Mr Noor explained.

"That's why they call others to wash the body."

Sheikh Khalfan Hamis, the chairman of the Council of Muslim Scholars, insists that it is against Islam for non-Muslims to wash the corpses of Muslims.

"The Koran does not distinguish between those who die of a certain disease - we have to wash them all," he said.

"That is the teaching of Prophet Mohammed."

But the job has to be done, and at the right price there are always Kenyans like Joseph and Caroline willing to do the worst job in the country.