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Mayooo! Mayooo! Kenyan woman from US gets schooled on Luo mourning ritual – VIDEO

By Hilary Kimuyu January 16th, 2020 1 min read

A young Kenyan woman with an American twang has revealed how she was coached by an uncle on how to ‘weep and wail’ at her grandfather’s burial.

In a hilarious video, which has been widely shared on social media, the young woman leaves mourners in stitches with her testimony as she eulogized her late grandfather.

The woman, who introduces herself as Lillian, narrates how the uncle instructed her to put up a dramatized show to mourn her grandpa during the burial ceremony.

“My uncle Japheth told me, that whenever I reach the homestead that I cannot just come out of the car and walk into the house. He said I have to cry on the way to the homestead,” she narrates.

WEEPING AND WAILING

Taken aback, she says, she asked the uncle how she was supposed to cry.

Then she goes ahead to dramatise what the uncle instructed her to do.

“He said do this, Wololololooo! Mayooo! Mayooo! Kwara, erei! (grandpa, where are you?) Abiro! (I’m on my way) Kwara, in kanye? (grandpa, where are you?),” she narrates before letting out a shrill cry, as the mourners burst into laughter.

Mourning the dead in such a manner is standard practice among the Luo during burial ceremonies.