By BAGIRE
Our public life is spiced with joy and sorrow. Whether at family, institutional, or community life, the passing on of a dear one is not without recourse of deep thoughts about the whole scene of life. People will recall the last minutes, the final interaction with the deceased, the ending words or tone; many little things that seem to announce the departure from the treasures of this life. As such, being inevitable, organizations, groups and associations have set up guidelines on how to handle such moments as they befall their members. At a personal level, we also have mechanisms for confronting the end of life of a dear one. In mid-May, I was embodied in a situation with the misfortune of the death of my elder brother. After, I shared a post with friends announcing his loss. As messages of sympathy filled up the airwaves on my phone, I thought of this aspect of life with a philosophical lens.
As my reference page has been for now over twenty years in every issue, life rotates around management. We had to communicate the
death. It mattered how. Some people could collapse if the message was not timed and packaged well, especially to our aged mum. We
had to plan for hundreds of little things. Friends were quickly inquiring when the funeral would be held and where.
That was one of my first issues to consult on so that the obituary message was complete. For the one day and two nights before laying
him to rest, friends and neighbours joined us to plan for and execute many tasks. Many ideas were put forward. We were in sorrow,
but every action mattered. The checklist was quite long. The items ranged from; food, public address system, seats, speakers, liturgy items,
water, utensils, parking, radio announcements, program, and eulogies. At the center of decision-making to manage successfully, I valued systems, teamwork, consultation, time management, social capital, traditions and soft skills like listening, silence, contemplation, sympathy, respect, hope and spirituality. I have participated in organizing hundreds of events and we usually have time-space ranging to months. As against our neighbours in Kenya who take weeks before burial, in our Ugandan culture of just a day or two, I found it plausible how we got much ready to handle an event with over 1500 people. Such management is by the grace of God, above our knowledge from class and experience.
At the graveside, a framework was by consensus on lowering the remains, adjusting the casket to fit and how to cover it up. I stood spellbound looking at this whole scene of life. He had been buried; we needed to get back to the courtyard to manage the post-burial tasks.
When feedback trickled in later that it had been a well-managed funeral, I felt gratification that even in death, my brother had been accompanied by the proficiency that he had known of me from childhood to his demise.
Back to our organizations, policies on bereavement should provide how affected individuals join in such unexpected
management with their families. It can be unwise to hold an employee at work when for a very close relative such activities
are going on in the family. Never the less, employees should also appreciate that organizations exist to meet goals. If at the loss
of any relative, each employee is given days away, then the mission is stifled.
