In Ghana, women get paid to weep at unknown funerals

Have you heard about the mourners? They are the women paid to cry at funerals of strangers. The paid job has existed for over 2, 000 years and, legend has it, this is a way to facilitate entry into heaven. In Brazil, the practice was brought by the Portuguese colonizers, but the profession did not mesh, as many would cry for free at wakes of people they did not know - in the series "Pé na Cova", Rede Globo, actress Eliana Rocha played a of these women.

Ghana on the coast of Africa, on the other hand, was also colonized by Portuguese who brought the custom to the country - later England eventually conquered the colonies, so much so that English is the official language there. The mourners form crying associations, which charge for the number of women and the importance of the deceased.

Crying at funerals is often associated with the mourning of the loss and longing that one will leave, but sometimes mourning and shock prevent family members from showing their full appreciation to the dead through tears - and that's when that the crying professionals come into action!

The reason for hiring mourners is that the funeral in Ghana is often seen as a big event, like a wedding or a christening. People invest in coffins and even ritual dances that make everything look like a big party - sad, of course, but still a party.

For this reason, funeral attendees often help bereaved relatives with some financial contribution to decent preparation for the deceased. Thus, the more the mourners scream and cry, the more they pity the gifts and urge them to contribute more money. Curious, right?

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