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Chahilu’s Funeral; Logooli Culture in action

Guuga Chahilu was respectfully laid to rest at his home on Saturday 14th June 2025. Having passed on at Mbale Referral Hospital on 31st May 2025, the two weeks leading to his burial were full of cultural discussions. His passing on is a great loss to the Logooli Language and Culture Family as he was a custodian and informer of Luhya Indigenous Knowledge. An observation as to how the funeral proceeded leads us to revist Logooli traditions amidst modern realities.  One, having left the house alive and now coming back in state, Chahilu was to be taken inside the house, placed muihiilu for a moment and then officially taken out in wait for earth burial. His casket was able to enter the doors. There are cases where the dead would find it difficult to be taken in and then out due to an oversized casket or thin door. A man or a lady of his house who died out of home has to be taken in the house for a last ritual mark. But if the person had died inside, he or she would not be brought bac...

People lose their hearts

People lose their hearts
When they grow big
For when I board the public bus
To go learn A B C D
I am expected to pay for the seat.

Were it not for the uniform
I'd not stand in between the seats

The different men and women
Whom I daily see
Are neither mothers nor fathers
To my friends at school
For if they trully were
One could let me rest on laps
By the window
And count the moving tall buildings
1 3 5 7

But see how they squeeze me
Backsitters rushing to alight first
My 8 year old body in between
Threatening to be crashed
Carrying the only heart around.

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