The Traditional Understanding of Grief Among Ameru in Kenya

A Diakonia Perspective

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to explore the Ameru indigenous ways of overcoming death and grief. Death and grief have always been the most challenging thing throughout the history of humanbeings, and even within contemporary society. The Ameru culture provided room, space and meaning of death and life after death to both the dead and to the living. The culture was an integral part of Ameru, especially on matters of death and grief. The culture provided values found to be helpful to the well-being of the Ameru people, in a holistic way especially in the period of grief and bereavement. The article explores these meaning and how they can be relevant to the contemporary society, which ethos are guided by the Church. Today, the church plays the central role in overcoming grief and bereavement. In meaning making, there is a needfor contextualization.Contextualization is an attempt to present the gospel in culturally relevant ways. For this reason, this article triesto explore some of the Ameruways of overcoming grief and how this can be relevant to the contemporary Church diakonia work and counseling of grief.