Ecclesiastes 6:3 says: A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.
BY JAIROS SAUNYAMA
THE above scripture is an apt description of how some children have failed to take care of their parents while still living at the same time failing to offer them a decent burial.
Recently, Mazivanhanga Village in Chihota, Marondera West constituency, came to a standstill after UMAA College boss Cleopas Kundiona constructed an exquisite grave for his late mother Dorcas Kundiona, who had died at the age of 96.
This was the first time for the villagers and other mourners to witness a coffin being lowered down a tiled grave, which resembled a house or at most a five-star hotel bathtub.
The bottom part of the grave had beige tiles while the walls were made of shiny white tiles.
Indeed it was a befitting burial, but the question is: Was it mere extravagance or last respects?
“It’s just honouring my mother, she was a great woman who was loved by all. She never lacked anything in her life and the luxuries she enjoyed here on earth, she can still enjoy them at this stage. She did not die, her soul is with us. As a sibling, it is my duty to offer such a heroine a befitting burial. She did a lot for her children after our father died in 1977.
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‘If she was another woman, she could have eloped to another man, but she remained single and made sure that all her children were taken care of. This is the same woman who deserves such a grave as an honour to her. We did the same for our father,” said Kundiona.
Kundiona’s father, Langton Hapaguti Kundiona, died in 1977 at the peak of the liberation struggle and could not get such a decent burial.
According to Kundiona, he used more than $3 500 on both the coffin and the grave.
“I had to buy some expensive tiles as well as the glass-coated coffin. Both the grave construction and coffin cost around $3 500. I urge other children to do the same for their parents, they should take care of their parents while living before giving them a befitting send-off,” he said.
The late Gogo Kundiona was one of the directors at UMAA Group of Colleges. Up to now, all mourners who attended her funeral wake cannot stop talking about the burial and particularly the grave that left both the high and low stunned. It was an event that will live in the memories of many, an event that left others green with envy.
