Today was... one hell of a day. It started pretty normal until halfway through class. There was a distant wailing/crying from the next compound. One of the little girls from Ida's compound (where we study every day) went over to check it out, as did pretty much everyone, and that's how news of death is spread. Apparently a little boy is really sick and it's pretty determined that he won't make it. Ida went over to confirm. The wailings increased and when Ida came back, we found out that the girl was right. There was a 7 year old boy who was so sick, it was definitely for sure he would die soon. I can't remember his face but I KNOW his person - he was always the lively kid who rolled a tire around every day for fun while I sat in class. He would never be without his tire and he's an active little kid. Apparently he came down with something three days ago just as I was going off to Jenoi. Ida thinks it's malaria... When he was initially sick, he didn't tell his grandma (his mom married into another family and left him with her mom). Kid's don't normally tell their caretakers, they just pretend like everything is okay until they don't get up to play anymore which cues in the adults that something is wrong. It's the child culture here, they are pretty subservient to their elders. Kids just don't express themselves or how their feeling at all. Had the adults suspected something like malaria as soon as the child was sick, he might have survived. But obviously, they thought it was just a cold or something minor. Ida said when she went over to the next compound, the boy was still alive but when she held his hand, she knew it wouldn't be long until death came over him. He looked like he was just sleeping.
I asked if anyone else was sick since he contracted it, then there must be others vulnerable in a cramped sleeping space. Ida said his older half sister looked pretty sickly and looked like she was dying. Ida told the adults to take the girl to the clinic but with the funeral about to take place (funerals happen the DAY of the death), she isn't sure if they will. The wailing continued all day - it was loud, as most mourning days are in The Gambia. The first day when it's discovered, the women wail loud so everyone knows, people come to find out what's wrong, news spread to kin and close friends to gather, some adults in the bush who were working don't even know what would happen until they return, the women prepare the deceased by washing him/her and clothing them in white robes, the women stay in the compound to mourn while the men take the body wrapped in a blanket or mat or coffin to the burial grounds. There is no cremation and the graveyard is free for everyone but only men are allowed to go. If the deceased is older, usually there's more people that congregate. If the deceased was a man, his widowed wife would need to stay inside the house for 45 days just to confirm that if she is pregnant, people would know the child was the deceased man's... which is problematic to me, but that's personal opinion. I don't even know what to think of today.
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