Cultural Insights into Funeral Practices

Funeral Practices and Their Meanings Funeral do not happen till 2 or more weeks after someone has died. It can even be over a month. This is because they need to get money together to pay for all the food that is needed, plus everyone must be notified. When someone dies the immediate family is told in person and not over the phone. They will call them and tell them to come quickly or tell them that the person is sick. When a woman who is married dies, it is often the job of her in-laws to tell her family that their daughter etc. has passed away. Traditional the body will leave the mortuary around 2:00 on the Friday before the funeral. Funerals are held on Saturdays. The pastor from the family 's church is suppose too be there to receive the

A person 's height is shown by putting the fingers together with them pointing upward. The height of an animal is shown with a flat hand and palm facing downward. When one receives something, he should receive it with both hands especially if person is superior This shows respect and thankfulness. One should give something to someone with his right hand, because the left hand is considered the dirty hand. This is not strongly observed though. Lesotho people have a special hand shake. They shake someone’s hand and then go up and lock thumbs and then they go back to the hand shake position. Bro Gault does not know the significance of it. He said that there is one person here who will on do that way of hand shaking. Also here the people are less likely to make eye contact then we would be, but it is not a culture where they won 't make eye contact. They have some special way of counting with their fingers. They start with their pinky for number one. When they get to six, number six is the thumb on other hand. The word for six (ts 'elela) means to cross over. You cross over to the other hands. The words seven (supa) means to point. One 's index finger or the seventh finger is the pointer finger. Number eight means two (two fingers down) while number nine means one broken (one finger down). If someone holds up just their thumb and two fingers people know that means eight, because the second hand when counting is the one that starts with the thumb. They also have ways of showing bigger