Would you pay for your own funeral? These people did

While many think it is strange to take out funeral insurance, those who have done so say it helps to give their relatives a decent send off. PHOTOS BY Abu Baker Lubowa. 

By Christine W. Wanjala
 

 

In Summary

It sounds like a morbid thing to do, however, people have taken out insurance to cater for their funerals or those of loved ones. They say it helps with funeral arrangements and saves everyone the time and hustle

These people took a step many of us would consider morbid. They took funeral insurance, which means they pretty much buy their own or a loved one’s coffin as well as pay for the digging of their own graves. Where the rest of us see superstition and unnecessary preparation they see sense. Here a few people try answering the question why.

Barbara Nakanwagi took it upon herself to take insurance for the funeral for her 81-year-old father. Her reason? She is afraid of the suddenness of death. “It can come when you have no money and yet you want to give your loved one a dignified send off,” she says. The 34-year-old restaurant owner says her decision was also motivated by a fear of shame. “It reflects badly to have a poor send-off for a parent when you have all been working and living with the knowledge that your old and ailing father may depart sooner or later,” she adds.

With funerals becoming grander and grander, and always a reflection of the family’s financial clout more than ever, her fear is valid. But there is more. She once had an experience where the headache to fund a funeral almost enveloped her grief taught her to look for a way where she could pre-plan. “We lost our sister suddenly at a time we were all struggling financially,” she narrates adding that she was not pleased with the funeral they could afford. I wanted my father’s when his time came, to have a decent ceremony,” says Nakanwagi.

An act of devotion
Not far from where her restaurant stands in Kabalagala is another lady, Rita Nalwoga also 34, who took out funeral insurance for both her maternal and paternal grandmothers. The two ladies are 73 and 83 year old respectively. “I was introduced by a salesman and I did not hesitate to take it up,” says Nalwanga. Her decision was an act of devotion tinged with pragmatism. “I love them both so much but they are old, so after all is said and done, this is what I could do for them,” she says.

Funeral insurance is riding on the back of growing appreciation for funeral service companies. They are the ones who offer the funeral insurance and funeral benefits packages and ultimately deliver the services which include transport of the body, to buying the coffin, pall bearers and so on. They are also the ones responsible for spreading it to Ugandans. Annette Karungi (not real name) who took out funeral insurance for her 73-year-old father says, she passed by a funeral stall and got curious as to what they offered. I learnt about the service and thought it was something I can do for my father.

She downplays the sentimental reasons of the other two ladies and says hers is a matter of practicality, for a man who does not have that many relatives. “My father has a pension which I pick for him so I thought why not use some of it to take care of his funeral?” she asks.

“Death is after all inevitable and it does have a way of catching us unawares.” This is what Martin Mwanga, a salesman with A Plus funeral services says. In the four years he has been selling funeral insurance he admits to difficulty in selling the service in the beginning but there is a gradual warming up to the idea in the past two years. His earlier sentiments about the inevitability of death are what more people have become more aware of. No wonder one of the most fertile places to do his sales pitch is at a funeral.

“There are many prospects at a funeral when people are around death. People are very aware of it there,” he explains. He says he tries not to appear callous and just briefly introduces himself, picks a contact and follows up later. It helps his trade that some people at funerals have seen the hustle of organising a funeral when a loved one died unexpectedly.

One person who learnt from experience was 54-year-old Wycliffe Isabirye (not real name), after losing his mother, brother and wife all within months of each other. Though he was able to organise a proper send off, contracting a funeral company for each, he realised it would have been much easier if he had taken funeral pre-planning packages with the same funeral companies.

“

These incidents come and you must get money whether you have it or not. It may mean seeking out loan sharks who charge high interest,” he says. Instead of waiting and running about when a death happens, the engineer opted to take out funeral insurance for his family of eight, himself included. “Who can escape dying? We do not know when but we know it will come,” he says when I inquire about taking funeral insurance for even his last born child, a 10-year-old. He says his biggest reason is the comfort and convenience of it all. “I get to pay when I can in installments moreover. Despite not losing someone since he took the package two years ago, the father of six is convinced it is a wise move. “Even when death befalls us, it will not be a time of panic,” he says.

25-year-old Steven Musoke Jagwe had just signed up for a benefits scheme when he lost his grandmother. He agrees that having that safety net takes some of the stress of losing a loved one. A benefits scheme is different from a funeral insurance in that you put money in a kitty with the funeral company for use in case you lose someone. It may not have a specific beneficiary as a funeral insurance is wont to have. “I just called the funeral company and they basically came and took over,” explains the administrative assistant comparing how it was different from an earlier loss where he did not have any plan. “It was hectic when I lost my grandfather, I had travelled and had to coordinate the funeral arrangements from far not to mention the hustle of getting money to foot everything,” he shares.

 Death is natural
Jagwe’s case is special as he lost his grandmother just four months after taking the insurance. “I did not expect her or anyone to die so soon, I just took it so I had a safety net when it did happen,” he says. In his view the investment was so worth it he now plans to pre plan for his own funeral, his youth and good health notwithstanding. “I am looking for some people who can join me as a group. I travel a lot and death is not a respecter of age really. It is the route we must all go,” he says. However it is the “hate” (his choice of word) of leaving people running around raising funds for his funeral that is his biggest motivation for taking funeral insurance for himself. “I will cater for myself when I still can,” he says emphatically.

Nakanwagi and Nalwoga also feel that when things stabilise they could think of adding themselves and other family members on the scheme. For Karungi who took a policy for her ailing father, she has not considered it for herself or her children yet. “I am hesitating but nowadays the style is to use a funeral management company. We are moving on to new things so maybe I will embrace it in the future,” she says.

 

Over the years Mwanga has realised that the deterrent to taking funeral insurance has been fear. “Some people need it, and even think it is a good idea but they are scared, they do not want to face the eventuality of death,” he says. In such cases it is those who have benefitted who turn out to be the biggest ambassadors.

All of the ones I speak to manage to skirt the big question. Doesn’t it bode badly to plan for a funeral, whether it is yours or a loved one’s, even if they are elderly, or terminally ill? Nalwanga says the relatives who are privy to her plans for her grandmothers are not bothered at all. “I have not heard anyone say anything and personally it does not bother me,” she says. Nakanwagi admits to having misgivings to begin with. But I eventually understood everyone must die,” she says. As for her other family members, she is not sure how they will react and has kept most of them in the dark. “I also want it to be a surprise when the time comes because most do not think I can raise enough money to sponsor a funeral.”