In my Baganda community in Uganda, it is believed that the ancestors will bring misfortune on those who fail to attend the funeral of a close family member.

Almost every January, one of my new year's resolutions is to attend all the funerals of close family and friends.

 

Last June, my one and a half year old niece Beatrice passed away in Uganda but I could not make it to the funeral. Living and working in the U.K. then, I was consumed by anger and guilt seeing firsthand how, yet again, a broken healthcare system in Africa had failed to stem an avoidable death.