HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Chipo Benhure started saving early for a holiday season to remember in Zimbabwe, but it wasn’t for a party or vacation. The highlight is a graveyard ceremony to unveil her late mother’s tombstone.
The generations-old rite has come to be associated with long holidays such as Christmas in the southern African nation, where the weakened economy leaves many people struggling to do their duty of honoring the dead.
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A worker cleans a tombstone at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
People walk past tombstones at a cemetory in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
A worker cleans a tombstone at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
“I didn’t want to be found wanting come Christmastime, so I was putting aside a few dollars each month,” Benhure said, standing at a crowded and dusty ground on the outskirts of the capital, Harare. Workers used grinders and stone polishers to make tombstones. Others chiseled detailed portraits, referring to photos shared by loved ones.
Soon, a $450 black granite tombstone was added to the flower bouquets and sacks of groceries as Benhure and about a dozen relatives squashed together in a minibus traveling to their rural home for the ceremony. The cost represented more than twice the average monthly income for an urban household in Zimbabwe, which is about $200.
Zimbabweans traditionally use long holidays such as the Christmas season to hold often joyous graveyard rites that include song, dance, Christian prayers or invitations for ancestral spirits to protect and guide the living.
Many believe such ceremonies can bring blessings — but neglect them too long and a curse could result. Until the ceremonies, graves are marked by simple metal signs or nothing at all.
In Zimbabwe's urban areas this holiday season, household yards and other open spaces have been turned into makeshift tombstone manufacturing zones by people trying to eke out a living.
Prices range from $150 to $2,500, and some people pay in installments. Delivery vans and trucks are on standby for hire.
One tombstone provider, Tafadzwa Machokoto, attended to a stream of customers and called this his busiest time of year. The computer science graduate now employs almost 10 people for making or marketing tombstones.
“Our customers take tombstone unveiling very seriously. They would rather spend on the ceremony than on a Christmas bash. They need the blessings,” he said.
Machokoto recalled a businessman who once ordered 11 tombstones because his transport venture was struggling. The businessman said he constantly had dreams of his late father instructing him to spruce up the family cemetery.
“It rained just after the ceremony and everyone took it as a sign that the ancestors were now happy," Machokoto said. “He even bought me a smartphone months later as a present, saying his business was now thriving.”
On a recent weekend at a cemetery on the outskirts of Harare, Zororo Memorial Park, several graves were covered with white cloth, ready for unveiling ceremonies.
The family of the late Kindness Ziwange said it had spent over $2,000 on the ceremony, including $900 for a tombstone. Afterward, close to 50 relatives, friends and neighbors feasted on fried potatoes, fried rice, grilled chicken, stewed beef and vegetable salad.
“We will lay low on Christmas Day. We already had our big day today as a family. Some traveled through the night for this event,” said a relative, Isabel Murindagomo.
While some in Zimbabwe regard the ceremony as an essentially Indigenous ritual associated with the ancestral cult and reactivation of the spirits, others view it as a Christian event to remember deceased relatives, said Ezra Chitando, a professor in the University of Zimbabwe’s religious studies department.
“The majority of people are hovering between the two positions. Some try to moderate by contributing financially to the process but do not attend the ceremony,” Chitando said, highlighting the religious complexity of local beliefs associated with the dead.
Although the majority of Zimbabweans profess to be Christian, experts say many combine the faith with traditional practices.
Benhure, with the tombstone for her late mother now in place, sees little difference in the end.
“Honoring the dead brings blessings to the living irrespective of one’s religion,” she said.
A worker cleans a tombstone at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
People walk past tombstones at a cemetory in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
A worker cleans a tombstone at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, Dec. 4 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
Friends and relatives of the Ziwangwe family, during the unveiling of the tombstone of late Kindness Ziwangwe at a cemetary in Harare, Zimbabwe, Saturday, Dec 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Aaron Ufumeli)
NEW YORK (AP) — Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 22 shots and assisted on two goals as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 3-1 on Sunday.
William Carrier, Jack Roslovic and Sebastian Aho scored for the Hurricanes, who won for the fourth time in six games and improved to 10-3-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents this season.
Jimmy Vesey scored for New York 17 seconds into the game, converting a pass from defenseman Chad Ruhwedel past Kochetkov. The Rangers are 4-12-0 in their last 16 games and lost their fourth-straight home game.
PANTHERS 4, LIGHTNING 2
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A.J. Greer and Eetu Luostarinen scored short-handed goals 42 seconds apart in the second period to help beat Tampa Bay to open a home-and-home series.
Sam Reinhart scored twice, the second into an empty net, and Spencer Knight stopped 19 shots for Stanley Cup champion Florida. The Panthers have won four consecutive games.
Nick Paul and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21 saves, The Lightning had won four in a row.
With Tampa Bay on a power play midway through the second, Nikita Kucherov fanned on an entry play, with Greer taking the puck and eventually scoring for a 2-1 lead. On the next shift, Luostarinen scored on a breakaway.
CAPITALS 3, KINGS 1
WASHINGTON (AP) — Aliaksei Protas scored twice and Washington beat Los Angeles.
Jakub Vrana also scored and Pierre-Luc Dubois had two assists en route to the win, which puts the Capitals back atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Logan Thompson made 25 saves to advance to 13-2-2.
Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who have dropped three of the last four and lost a back-to-back set for the first time this season.
David Rittich made 18 saves in the loss, dropping to 10-8 on the season.
DUCKS 5, UTAH 4, SO
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mason McTavish was the only scorer in the shootout and Anaheim rallied from a three-goal deficit, beating Utah.
Robby Fabbri scored twice and Isac Lundestrom and Brett Leason added goals for Anaheim, which won for the third time in four games after a five-game skid. Lukas Dostal finished with 21 saves.
Clayton Keller had two goals and two assists. Barrett Hayton and Logan Cooley also scored and Jaxson Stauber made 26 saves for Utah, which had its four-game winning streak halted.
Keller tapped in the puck off a rebound 86 seconds into the first period and Utah never trailed in regulation. Fabbri tied the game five minutes into the period, scoring off a takeaway.
Keller helped Utah pull away from the Ducks, assisting on the goals by Hayton and Cooley. Then, Keller scored his second goal on a snap shot with 14:03 left in the second period, giving Utah a 4-1 lead.
AVALANCHE 5, KRAKEN 2
DENVER (AP) — Joel Kiviranta scored three goals, including twice into an empty net, Nathan MacKinnon notched his third straight two-assist game and Colorado beat Seattle.
Valeri Nichushkin and Cale Makar also added goals to propel Colorado to a third straight win. In addition to MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Makar had two assists as the Avalanche swept the three-game season series with the Kraken. Kiviranta wrapped up the win with a pair of late empty-net scores. It was his first regular-season hat trick.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 17 shots, improving to 3-1 since the Avalanche traded for him in a deal that sent Alexandar Georgiev to San Jose.
OILERS 3, SENATORS 1
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Zach Hyman broke a tie on a power play late in the second period, Stuart Skinner made 20 saves and Edmonton beat Ottawa to end the Senators’ season-high winning streak at six games.
Viktor Arvidsson had a goal and an assist and Adam Henrique also scored for Edmonton. The Oilers have won three straight and 11 of 13.
Nick Cousins scored for Ottawa, tying it at 1 just 25 seconds in the second period.
Leevi Merilainen made 12 saves for Ottawa after replacing the injured Linus Ullmark to start the second period.
New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) protects the net from Carolina Hurricanes' William Carrier (28) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)