Paper long abstract:

Collective grieving and burial rituals form an integral part of the healing process for many sub-Saharan Africans during the death of their loved one(s). However, the covid-19 pandemic has created a rift in our human interconnectedness due to factors such as social distancing, restrictions on the number of people who can attend the funeral and the time allocated for conducting the funeral, as well as the restraint on viewing the corpse. More specifically, the pandemic has affected the relationship among people and their conception of empathy toward others especially during a bereavement. This rift has greatly affected the way many had to deal with grief. In this paper, we explore how the philosophy of Ubuntu can help us deal with grief amid challenges posed by the covid-19 pandemic. In order to achieve this, the paper considers various themes closely related to bereavement ceremonies including communal responsibility, spirituality, health and wellness among others. In what follows, the paper stipulates that these themes can be instrumental in providing effective counselling that can help people deal with grief. In the end, the paper emphasizes that despite the physical social disconnection brought about by the pandemic, Ubuntu remains a uniting principle that underscores the spirit of togetherness, the ability to work together towards a common goal and emphasizes the idea that the essence of being human rests largely on the recognition that we are all interconnected even when a pandemic disconnects us physically.