Wajackoya- I worked as a mortuary attendant

Roots Party leader George Wajackoya has opened up on working as a mortuary attendant.

He was speaking during an interview with Wasafi during his latest visit to Tanzania.

He says at the time he was in a foreign land and did not have much of an option.

“I worked as a mortuary attendant, at first it was hard but with time I saw it like any other job.”

What made him change his mind?

“I asked myself if Jesus was to die would I clean him up?

When you are in a foreign country and have no option what would you do? I am not a thief.

 The government should open up a school to teach people who want to be morticians,” he concluded

 Ann Njoki Mwangangi is among the most celebrated Morticians in Kenya.

Taking us through her first experience handling a dead body, the morticians said that she was unable to eat but managed to sleep.

Her sensitivity to smell caused her to lack appetite.

Mwangangi said that in the morgue, they receive all types of bodies, fresh ones, those which have stayed for so long, the smell was a trigger.

“I’m very sensitive to smell and in my first experience, I was very uncomfortable with the smell and there are things you are not taught at mortuary science,” she noted 

In her line of duty, Mwangangi says they try to end all the misconception people have about morgues by offering top-notch services.

Believing in her services, she said that anyone who brings their loved one has received the best mortuary services.

As a mortician, Mwangangi says her biggest work is to slow down the decomposition of the body.

“It is our biggest responsibility. So when someone says nichungie mwili, it means when they are coming to collect we shall have ensured the person looks the same as he was when alive and this brings a lot of closure at the end,” she explained.

Despite her job, Mwangangi said that she has made friends along her career journey.

In an interview with Radio Jambo, Mwangangi explained that when her mother passed away, she lacked a proper support system.

“The reason why I decided to become a mortician was because of my own tragedy. I didn’t get to grieve the right way. I was stuck and struggled for a very long time, she said.

Four years later after her mother’s death, Mwangangi was able to heal emotionally and get closure.

It was then that she decided to study mortician science.

“I really would have liked it if there was someone to hold my hand and take me through the mourning and transition process. So I said I will help someone else to transition through grief. I never got to experience that. That is what inspired me to be a mortician,” Mwangangi revealed.

Despite handling corpses, she notes that morticians are the main people who assist the bereaved family in the transition after grief.

Mwangangi adds that counseling comes in hand with the work morticians do as they prepare the family to go to the next stage.

“People think that morticians only handle dead bodies but we do a lot more and take part in walking with the mourning family through the entire process,” she said.

Morticians also ensure that the grieved family is satisfied and knows that their loved one is in safe hands as they embark on burial preparations.