The number of female mortuary attendants in Kenya has recently increased as more women join the sector traditionally reserved for men.
Christine Otieno, a mortuary attendant at Star Mortuary in Kisumu has been in the job for 38 years.
In an interview with KNA, Christine revealed she started the job when a lady friend of hers passed away, but she wasn’t properly taken care of at the morgue.
The incident saw her make up her mind while still a young girl right in form three to be a mortuary attendant so she could properly give the dead a befitting treatment before they are buried.
The decision, however, received a backlash from people around her who even took her for a checkup in mental facilities, believing she was running mad.
Her aunt however supported her dreams which have since become a reality.Christine notes that the job is full of challenges among them lack of requisite materials to enable her to professionally discharge her duties.
Ann Mwangangi, a popular mortician says the biggest challenge people working in morgues face is stigma from members of the public.
“People still have the notion that to work in a morgue, one has to be on drugs, or you are not 100 percent normal, or you don’t have an alternative to live,” she said.
Christine encourages girls and women to embrace any job that comes their way, especially in the current dispensation where one has no choice of work.
