When Paul Kithuku Musembi, a mortician in Kericho County, received several bodies at Lazarus Funeral Home along the Kericho-Nakuru highway at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, he dutifully attended to them, not knowing that his life hang on the balance.

Later, he learned that the deceased had been infected with Coronavirus and chances of him dying from the disease were high.

But Musembi defied the viral pandemic to tell his story. Currently in charge of the funeral home, he recalls doing his work with passion for the past 25 years, far away from his home county of Kitui.

Covid-19 challenges

In an interview at the facility, Musembi, 50, says the challenging period in his career was during the Covid-19 pandemic when he prepared over 200 bodies for burial.

Kenya’s first confirmed case of Covid-19 was on March 12, 2020.

Musembi reveals that he and his assistant, Dorothy Chelangat, strictly adhered to the Ministry of Health (MoH) protocols on Covid-19 — always putting on personal protective equipment, face masks, disposable hand gloves, head gear, eye glasses and practising hygiene measures while handling bodies infected with Covid-19.

“My first Covid-positive body was in the third week of March 2020. The deceased, a woman, had died from the virus. I knew that chances of contracting the virus were high. But I maintained all the MoH guidelines for mortuaries, so I had nothing to worry about. Later, I went for a virus check-up and the tests were negative. From that time until mid-2021, my assistant and I prepared over 200 bodies infected with Covid-19”, he says.

“We continued preparing the dead for the next world without being distracted by stereotypes peddled by naysayers. For transport and storage of the bodies, many of which were from sub-county hospitals, we would secure the bodies in bags and label them: ‘Covid-19; Handle With Care’. We avoided unnecessary contact with these bodies to avoid air getting expelled from their infected lungs. We cleaned all surfaces and equipment thoroughly with disinfectants,” he reveals.

Musembi adds that no viewing of the bodies was allowed, not even by family members. The bodies were sealed in bags, as directed by MoH guidelines, to minimise transmission of the virus.

Thankfully, for all the time they handled Covid-positive bodies, Musembi  and his assistant were unaffected by the virus. Now they can take a sigh of relief as cases of the virus have gone down.

“We thank God that we did not get infected. We received the first and second doses of Covid-19 vaccines, in addition to booster shots, and we strictly adhered to MoH guidelines each time we received a body,” says Musembi.

Death is part of life, and caring for the dead is complex and mysterious.

The topic is feared and revered, and the mere mention of a mortuary sends shivers down the spines of many people.

But for Musembi, the job is a calling. He reveals that, as fate would have it, he started out as a cleaner at Coast General Hospital in 1997,  and got a chance to interact with mortuary attendants. Many bodies were brought to the mortuary from the wards — victims of natural disasters, road accidents, diseases and old age. He would help the attendants transfer the bodies to the mortuary. That is how he became familiar with the mortuary environment and started developing an interest in the job.

“My first time to handle a body was in 1997. It was of a man who had died from a terminal illness while undergoing treatment at the hospital. I did not see any big challenge in the job. After all, I did not have relatives to support me financially and I was far from home. I saw it as a job like any other. Later on, after undergoing training for a week, I got used to the job”, says Musembi.

A job opening arose at the morgue and he opted to take the position, adding that he was driven by a passion to assists families of the over 70 bodies received in a day.

“At the time, most of the bodies were from neighboring counties. I would wake up as early as 5am and, together with two colleagues, prepare the bodies for the final rites. Their families and friends would start receiving them at 9am. By 2pm, we were done with the day’s work. I loved what I did and my satisfaction was in seeing families thanking me for a good job. In a day, we released close to 70 bodies for burial”, he recalls.

“In the year 2000, I stopped working at Coast General Hospital after I was dismissed from work. In 2002, I came to Kericho and got employed at Lazarus Home”, he reveals.

Label the bodies

Each day, Musembi and his assistant label the bodies received for proper identification, clean them up and prepare them for preservation, ensuring they are stored properly in the refrigerator. In a month, the funeral home handles 80 to 100 bodies.

He also prepares the bodies for postmortem examination, working hand in hand with the pathologist. Afterwards, he takes the bodies back for preservation. Additionally, he does the necessary paperwork for receipt and release of bodies.

Musembi is married with three children, who all support his job. He says he has never experienced nightmares or engaged in drugs or alcohol abuse, despite the bad perception of mortuary workers by many people.  He adds that when he is outside the morgue, he forgets everything that happened in there that day and concentrates on his family.

“In the 20 years I have worked here, I am yet to see a ghost or experience nightmares. This job requires one to always be sober. I wake up at around 5.45am and, before 8am, I am at my work place. This job has helped me educate my three children as well as develop my home”, says Musembi.

His assistant, Chelangat, has two years’ experience at the job now. She reveals that Musembi has been a big encouragement at work and is grateful that the job is now a passion. She challenges young people to stop shying away from certain careers owing to misconceptions.

“This is a job like any other. The youth should not be too selective on jobs. Also, they should not engage in activities that ruin their lives following frustrations in securing “respectable” jobs”, advices Chelangat.

– KNA