Chipo Benhure planned a memorable festive season in Zimbabwe early on, but the goal wasn’t to party or go on vacation. The cherry on top of her agenda was a cemetery ceremony to unveil her late mother’s headstone.
The ancient tradition has become associated with long celebrations like Christmas in the southern African country, where a weakened economy leaves many struggling to fulfill their duty to pay their respects to the dead.
“I didn’t want to be caught off guard when Christmas came, so I put aside a few dollars each month,” Benhure said, standing in a cluttered, dusty field outside the capital, Harare. Workers used stone grinders and polishers to craft headstones. Others carved detailed portraits, referencing photos provided by relatives.
Soon, a $450 black granite headstone was added to the bouquets of flowers and bags of groceries as Benhure and a dozen family members piled into a minibus en route to their rural home for the ceremony. The cost was more than double the average monthly household income in urban Zimbabwe, which is about $200.
Zimbabweans traditionally take advantage of long holidays such as the Christmas season to hold often joyous funeral rites that include singing, dancing, Christian prayers or calling on ancestral spirits to protect and guide the living.
Many believe such ceremonies can bring blessings, but neglecting them for too long can bring a curse. Until the ceremony, graves are marked with simple metal signs or nothing at all.
In urban Zimbabwe, this festive season, yards and other open spaces have been transformed into temporary headstone-making workshops by people trying to make a living.
Prices range from $150 to $2,500, with some paying in instalments. Delivery vans and trucks are available for hire.
One headstone supplier, Tafadzwa Machokoto, responded to an influx of customers and said it was his busiest time of year. The computer science graduate now employs about 10 people to make or sell headstones.
“Our customers take the dedication of the headstone very seriously. They would rather spend money on the ceremony than on a Christmas party. They need blessings,” he said.
Machokoto recalls one businessman who ordered 11 headstones because his transport business was struggling. The businessman said he constantly dreamed of his late father asking him to beautify the family cemetery.
“It rained right after the ceremony and everyone took it as a sign that the ancestors were now happy,” Machokoto said. “He even gave me a smartphone a few months later as a gift, saying his business was doing well now.”
On a recent weekend, at a cemetery in the Harare suburb of Zororo Memorial Park, several graves were covered with white sheets, ready to be unveiled.
The family of the late Kindness Ziwange said they spent more than $2,000 on the ceremony, including $900 on a headstone. Afterwards, about 50 relatives, friends and neighbours feasted on fried potatoes, fried rice, grilled chicken, beef in sauce and vegetable salad.
“We are going to keep it low-key on Christmas Day. We have already had our big day today as a family. Some have travelled all night for this event,” said close friend Isabel Murindagomo.
While some in Zimbabwe view the ceremony primarily as an indigenous ritual associated with ancestor worship and the reawakening of spirits, others see it as a Christian event to remember deceased relatives, said Ezra Chitando, a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe.
“Most people oscillate between the two positions. Some try to moderate by contributing financially to the process but do not attend the ceremony,” Chitando said, noting the religious complexity of local beliefs associated with the deceased.
While most Zimbabweans identify as Christian, experts say many combine their faith with traditional practices.
Benhure, her late mother’s gravestone now in place, sees little difference in the end.
“Paying respect to the dead brings blessings to the living, regardless of their religion,” she said.