The lose of loved one is a could be very traumatic especially when the internment could not be finalized due to the present reality of covid 19 and the approved numbers of persons in attendance. Prior to the total lockdown which was enforced on my community in the first week of March 2020, so many families who had planned for the burial of their loved ones within the period of lockdown had recorded huge financial losses in million of dollars in the preparations especially on groceries and perishable food items.

This was the first burial I attended after the state government Eased the lockdown and gave approval for the burial of the dead. The burial held at Nung Iwocha in Etim Ekpo Local government and borders with Abia State, a tow (2) hours drive from the state capital, and it was on a Saturday.

The burial was a must to attend for me owing to the closeness to the family of the deceased, whose child has always been there for my family when ever we had functions, even when it skipped my attention to personally send the invite.

The death of the woman though through a natural course, is a huge loss to the family and the community at large. A seasoned educator, an embodiment of knowledge in social and religious sphere. she will greatly be missed!

The internment was done according to the Government regulation. The church service was done with only twenty (20) people in attendance due to the social distancing policy.

At a point, the social distancing was not maintained as people began clustering together. few teenagers were seen around and majority of people in attendance were adults.

At the grave side, visitors were received and entertained outside the house due to space constraint. some people tried in compliance to the use of face mask while others used it occasionally.

The deceased was a church and community leader and as such she was accorded the last respect by marching with the National Anthem as well as the Church Anthem and dancing with the picture of the deceased.

The experience gathered was that God is God and he rules over the affiars of men. A vote of thanks was given by the daughter of the deceased who spoke to the women fellowship onbehalf of the family.

This is a proof that God has given me another opportunity to be alive in the face of the pandemic to be alive and to make my entry in #iamalivechallange by @flaxz