Commentary
The mood was very somber at the M.J. Murphy Funeral Home, Monmouth Junction, New Jersey, where many Sierra Leoneans converged on Friday May 21, from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm for the viewing of the late Augusta Hawa Bob-Grey whose life was cut short at 33.
She was laid to rest on Saturday, May 22, at the Franklin Memorial Park on Route 27 in Somerset, New Jersey, after a well-attended funeral Service at the United Methodist Church, 323 George Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
It was a piteous spectacle outside the Ashbury United Methodist Church on Westfield Avenue in Pennsauken, New Jersey, where on the same Saturday, at about the same time, family and friends that included Americans, gathered to bid farewell to a young lady one Camden resident described as a “beautiful soul.”
Margaret Enid Allman, who passed away in Maryland at the age of 40, was laid to rest at the Arlington Cemetery, 1620 Cove Road, Pennsauken, New Jersey.
As the Muslim casket was wheeled outside for the final prayer for the dead (Janaza) the funeral home exploded with uncontrollable sobbing and weeping. It was a painful parting for the family and countless friends whose lives the late Mohamed Unisa Kamara positively impacted over the years – from Amaria Elementary School to Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.
On Sunday May 23, Mohamed Unisa Kamara, 47, who answered to the call of Allah on Monday, May 17, was laid to rest at the Oak Lawn memorial park on Route 130 after a Muslim Funeral Service at the Anderson Funeral Home, 201 Sanford Street, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
“This is unprecedented. Three funerals in one weekend in New Jersey!” That was how many people reacted when they heard the sad news about the burial of three Sierra Leoneans in New Jersey. “It’s a woeful weekend that we’ll never forget,” said one Somerset resident who like many others, had to move from one funeral to the other.
The turnout and outpouring of support at all three funerals was phenomenal – a clear indication that Sierra Leoneans can come together at a time of grief and adversity. “Rain nor dae fordom nar one man domot,” said one New Brunswick resident who felt compelled to attend all funerals, fully aware that all human beings are bound to face death. “We’re all subject to decay. Our very beginning is but a step to our end.”
At the Anderson Funeral Home in New Brunswick where Sierra Leoneans gathered to pay their last respect and bid farewell to a brother, a friend and compatriot, Alhaji Ibrahim Conteh spoke about the importance of the human hand.
The Chief Imam of Dawatul Islamia of Somerset, New Jersey, said the hand is used in delivering a baby; it is used to take care of the dead and to carry the dead to the final resting place.”
The Imam used the image of the hand to underscore the fragility of the human being and the futility of human endeavors. He said all the material things acquired on earth are of no use to dead.
“We came with nothing, and we’re going to return with nothing,” the learned Islamic Scholar pointed out. That message was echoed in the funeral service for the late Margaret Allman and that for the late Hawa Bob-Grey.
In conveying condolences to all the bereaved families on behalf of Dawatul Islamia and the Sierra Leonean Community, the Chief Imam urged all those present to make it a point of duty to belong to a religious organization – Islam, Christianity or Judaism; the three religions that believe in the existence of one God.
All three Sierra Leoneans laid to rest last weekend had made significant and meaningful strides while in the United States of America. Aside from improving their socio-economic well-being by earning diplomas and degrees, they have been of tremendous help and support to their loved ones. They were all snatched away by the cold hands of death at a time they were needed most.
Born in Freetown, Sierra Leone on August 7, 1976, Hawa Augusta Bob-Grey had her early education at the Cathedral Elementary School and Bo Teachers College Experimental School. She later attended the Ahmadiyya Secondary School in Freetown. After completing her high school education, she left the shores of Sierra Leone in 1995 for the United States of America.
While in the US, she pursued a career in Healthcare. She first enrolled at Camden County College, and went on to the Delaware Technical Institute of Health and Sciences where she graduated with a diploma as a License Practical Nurse.
The late Hawa Bob-Grey worked at the Deborah Heart and Lung Cancer Center in South Jersey for four years. She worked at Avista Care Center at the time her life was brought to an abrupt end on May 11, 2010.
Margaret Enid Allman was born in Freetown on April 28, 1970. The only child to her parents, she came to the United States of America at a very early age. After graduating from Camden Catholic High School, she proceeded to Douglas College and Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where she received a Bachelor of Science degree.
Without wasting time, she enrolled at Howard University in the nation’s capital Washington DC where she obtained two master’s degrees: one in Health Science and the other in Physical Therapy.
A career woman and a highly skilled and experienced physical therapist, Margaret loved her work and it showed in the way she cared for her parents, Mr. Edmond Bankole Vincent and Mrs. Juliana Eleanor Vincent.
Always learning about the human body and perfecting new techniques that would help her patients, Margaret worked as a physical therapist for twelve years. She worked at several facilities that included Southern Maryland Hospital, Greater Metropolitan Orthopedics, and Professional Healthcare Resources.
Mohamed Unisa Kamara was born in Freetown on January 11, 1963. He had his elementary education at Amaraya Primary School before attending the Prince of Wales Secondary School in Freetown. He did his sixth form (the equivalent of a two-year college in the US) at the Methodist Boys High School in Freetown.
After passing his GCE Advance Level, he went on to Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, where he graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts Honors in French. The late Mohamed Unisa Kamara taught French for three years at Kankalay Secondary School in Freetown before pursuing a career in Journalism.
Fired by a determination to improve his socio economic well-being, he left Sierra Leone for the United States in 1997. While in the United States, he enrolled at Chubb Institute in North Brunswick, New Jersey, where he earned a Diploma in Computer programming.
With an excellent background in French plus a Diploma in Computer programming, he landed a job as a Lead Translator for EquiServ, a Financial Management company in Edison, New Jersey.
In March of 2001, when things were just falling in place as planned, Mohamed Unisa Kamara was diagnosed with a serious medical condition – a condition that became progressively worse and eventually claimed his life.
It was indeed a woeful weekend in New Jersey. There were three funerals, and two memorials: one for the late Bintu Mariama Nabie-Conteh and the other for the late mother of Mr. Ahmed Beddor Bangura.
Amid the sadness that prevailed, there was also joy and happiness as a young couple celebrated the arrival of a bouncing baby. Another young couple celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary.
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