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More young and energetic people are gradually moving into undertaking; a duty which has been the reserve of the old.
In the past, embalming and preparing a dead person for burial was a duty performed by elderly women who were either family members or close to the deceased’s family.

These days, the age-old custom is gradually changing and it is very common to see young people of both sexes preparing the dead for burial by bathing, embalming, dressing and sometimes providing decoration services.
Israel Agbelesesi, who starting working as a mortician at 28 years, told The Mirror that he decided to enter the profession after he failed to secure a permanent job.

Similar to learning other trades, he said his family presented drinks and an amount of money to his master as fees for his apprenticeship.
For six months, Mr Agbelesesi and six other young people were taken through the processes involved in preparing a body for burial.

“At the initial stages, it wasn’t easy because of the perception I had on spirits in the dead but with time, I realised most of these hearsays were superstitions with no basis.”

“I see that as helping a child or dressing someone who could not dress by himself,” he added.

Voodooism
He discarded claims that people who dressed the dead were occultists or used some supernatural powers, explaining that a corpse was similar to someone who was asleep and so there was no need for any spiritual powers to be able to dress them.

He said before the bodies were handed over to them, family members performed their customary rites, which depended on what they (the family) believed in.

“Our duty is only to prepare the body for burial and so all we do is to take instructions from the family on how they want the body to look like and how it should be laid in state,” he explained.

Mr Agbelesesi, who is still single, said because of the perception society had about morticians, some women had refused his proposal claiming they could not marry someone who worked constantly on corpses.

A young woman shares her story
Thirty-year-old Theodora Nutor, who has been in the profession for three years, says she was trained for two years by her madam, after which she sat for exams at one of the funeral homes.

She said through that she had been able to travel across the nation and to countries such as Nigeria, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire.

Aside the undertaking, she also sews gowns and suits for the dead and also takes up decorating and catering services.
She explained that undertakers must also understand the social aspects of anguish and bereavement as well as the religious and cultural perceptions of the people they worked with.

Competition
Miss Nutor added that since there were a lot of people plying the trade these days, competition was keen and so in order to beat the competition, there was the need to relate well with customers as most people relied on word of mouth before contacting them.

She said one of their key competitors were the modern funeral homes that offered a variety of burial services.
“Though I don’t pray for people to die, death is inevitable and once I have been trained, I have to up my game in order to attract more customers. I see my profession as a calling from God,” she added.

Lucrative business
For freelancers such as Miss Nutor and Mr Agbelesesi, their prices ranges between GHc400 to GHc1000 depending on the status of the person and how the family wants the body to be laid in state.
Extra cost is added if it involves travelling or buying specific items requested by the family.

Safety
Handling a corpse must be done with care in order not to contract any disease. For this reason, Miss Nutor said she always used gloves, detergents, lime, nose cover, aprons and also sterilised her tools after each “operation.”
For a good job to be done, all she needs are syringes, a pair of scissors, cotton, surgical tray, needle holders, bandage, a pillow, mat and blankets.

Face powder, eyeliners, lipsticks, blushers, face foundation and perfumes are also used, depending on the gender and how the family wants the corpse to look like.