Originally posted July 25, 2008
You know that joke about the employee who takes time off because he would like to attend his mother-in-law's funeral, only to ask for time off again the next month for the same reason? (The punchline is that she isn’t dead yet.)
Well, in Mozambique I don't think people would get the joke.
For starters, people refer to extended relatives as brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. So when someone tells you his “sister” has died, it might be his cousin. And his “mother” might be his mother’s cousin. Seems sweet, but it’s a little disconcerting from an employer’s perspective when one tries to be sympathetic and keeps giving time off and funds for employee family funerals.
Remember our gardener, Antonio? The beanless guy? Yesterday he informed me that his wife just died, and he needs 2 weeks off and some travel money to fetch his son.
What? His wife died late last year – he took a month off then. Did he marry again already?
No, no. That wife was his second wife, his Maputo wife. His primary wife lived 3 days travel up north. And his son now has no one to care for him. The grandparents are dead, too.
How many more wives does he have????
Just these two. No more. Now he has no wives left.
My heart grieves for the motherless son. And once again I’m troubled by my lack of sympathy and compassion as an employer.
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