Donate for decent burial

This fundraiser is in support of the family of Rose Akinyi in Kenya, who are going through a difficult situation of grief combined with economic shortage.

Rose passed away on 18 August 2024. Due to an unpaid medical bill, her body remains at the Avenue hospital mortuary. Her family has paid what they can, but still owe more than 9000 USD. The arrears are to be cleared before the body is released for burial.

As a friend of the family, I cannot know this is happening without trying to help. The pain they are going through for not being able to bury their loved one is heartbreaking. If you are in a position to donate, please let us support the family to move through this tragedy, knowing that they are not alone.

Apparently it is not uncommon in Kenya that families end up in similar situations due to unpaid medical bills when someone dies in hospital. Kenya has a low income population and lacks a nationally functioning medical insurance system. Families go very far in trying to find a way to sort the bill, since leaving the body in the morgue brings deep shame and fear.

Rose's daughter Emily explains: "Sometimes they end up burying in a mass grave. No one wants their loved ones discarded like trash, it's inhumane even in death. In our customs, if your person is buried in a mass grave, it signifies that you abandoned him/her and it's believed the spirit hovers around"

Rose was a kind and loving person who always put her family first. She was open-minded and inclusive, treating all people humanely, caring and sharing the little that she had. That's how she deserves to be treated now, on her departure from the land of the living.

All donations will be transferred to Rose's daughter Emily so that the family can arrange a decent burial.