Grief, pain no tongue can express

Dar es Salaam. A wave of grief and deep sorrow rolled through relatives and mourners who had gathered for hours to receive a Form Four student, Anna Zambi,16, and take her to the graveyards of her parents and three siblings who died in a road accident two days before she was to sat for her final exams.

Anna is now an orphan. A flooded road accident on October 26 has killed both of her parents and three siblings.

The tragedy that happened just two days before Anna sat for her final Form Four examination at the Catholic-run Mother Teresa of Calcuta Secondary School in Same District, Kilimanjaro Region, has shocked and left many in disbelief.

Her parents, Lingston Zambi and Winifrida Lyimo, and their three other siblings, Anna’s two young sisters Lulu and Grace together with her young brother, Andrew, had left Dar es Salaam for Kilimanjaro Region to attend Anna’s graduation ceremony that was to take place before the exams.

A private car in which they were travelling was swept away by rainy water following a heavy downpour in Handeni District, Tanga Region.

Relatives finally made their mind that Anna should be concealed of the perishing of her family until she finishes her exams.

They were 22 day of painful and sorrowful wait for Anna to arrive at their home situated in Dar es Salaam’s Goba suburbs.

A dark cloud reigned when Anna arrived at their home at 4:30am. Apparently, relatives had a difficult time, thinking about how they would break the bad news to Anna.

Last Saturday, after Anna completing sitting her national Form Four exams, relatives went to collect her from school, but they told her nothing.

According her uncle, Ibrahim Zambi, when Anna asked her relatives, ‘where are my daddy and mom?, they replied to her “your parents are waiting for you at home, there is a party there just let’s go.”

Ibrahim says they got information about the misfortune three days after the occurrence of the accident, something that forced them not to tell Anna so that she could do her exams undisturbed.

“Soon after her arrival at home, four people went to inform her about the loss of her parents and siblings. Actually, she cried a lot as when she entered the house she laid herself on the legs of her grandmother and continued to weep.

“She talked about a lot of things while crying. She said she sensed the matter (the deaths) and that sometimes she woke up during the night and spoke about her exams, which, she said, she did in a difficult situation,” said Mr Zambi.

“Even if I’m selected for further education I will not be happy because who am I going to show my report on exam results? I was lucky to see the Standard Four examination results of my younger sister Lulu, who will not see mine,” said Anna while wailing.

What made the tears of sympathizers to roll down their cheeks was how Anna was mourning with the style of uttering words of sorrow.

During all the time of mourning Anna was waving to the pictures of her family, which were displayed on a table.

“Where can you see a child like me being shouldered five coffins at a go? I had a feeling that from school I would have cared for my younger sister (Grace aged one year), but she has left me. Oooh! I’m deeply hurt,” Anna cried sorrowfully. “My dear siblings, please pray for me so that I can also come and join you there because my remaining life is going to be very tough,” cried Anna.

“I woke up during that night and started crying while asking myself, why have I not seen them? Alas! You left me. I sensed there was something wrong because it was not normal for my daddy and mom not to come?” Anna cried while uttering those words.

It reached the point the pastor of the Moravian Church, Hance Mwakisoja, who was presiding over a Special Mass at the home of the Zambis, had to stop the sermon midway and called upon each of the sympathizers to pray for Anna.

Mwakisoja said although Anna was going through a difficult situation, God would never leave her alone.

“My daughter, Anna, you are going through this time of sorrow, but God will never leave you alone as He will be with you step by step, get courage,” said the pastor.

Ibrahim reiterated that Anna was crying while uttering sorrowful words. “She said, ‘why have you left me alone? Why Father and mom. You have left without leaving behind my siblings for me to raise. How am I going to live alone?” said Ibrahim. There was nobody who could accommodate those words of sorrow from Anna Zambi.

“We thank God that she is doing fine because we feared that she would have encountered a big trouble, but now she has come to terms and is mourning.”

Dr Doya Frederick, who stays at the Zambis’ home, has advised that Anna should get a rest and assisted spiritually and psychologically.

“When a person is informed of a difficult thing to go by, there are some steps that person goes through until he gets back to a normal situation and he will need to be offered a psychological and spiritual help.

“Those steps include not to accept the real situation that has occurred, anger and arguing that it is impossible, but later he accepts the reality,” said Dr Doya.

Since her arrival at home yesterday Anna was having a rest before she could attend a Special Mass.

Again, the sympathizers wept when Anna was laying bouquets on the graves of her parents and siblings.

The sorrowful daughter hugged the crosses of her parents in deep sorrow.

“My dear father, forgive me. If I were not attending my graduation ceremony, you would not leave me alone,” said Anna. At the grave of her mother, Anna said, “My mom, you brought us to this world painfully, but you have left with my siblings and now I’m alone.”

At the graves of her siblings, Anna wished she had cared for and assist them in acquiring education, naming Andrew, who wanted to become an engineer, that his dream had not come true.

Pastor Mwakisoja asked the family to cooperate with the church in every step of the development of Anna, saying she needed a great help.

“Let’s continue to pray for her so that God should not allow the spirit of loneliness in her heart and instead He should help her ,” he said.