Guide: farewell and mourning on Curaçao
When someone dies, a lot comes your way. Here you find the practical steps, and alongside them the traditions and stories that belong to them.
Draft text. The final content will be supplied or checked by labaman.com.
Traditions differ from family to family, church to church and neighbourhood to neighbourhood. So we prefer to write “in many families it goes like this” rather than “this is how it should be”.
Grief and support
Practical steps and help for those who have just lost someone.
The first hours: who to call
Who to call first after a death, at home or in hospital.
Who takes care of this: The family, The funeral home
The first hours: who to callThe aviso di morto: what goes in it and where to place it
What a death notice contains and how to share it.
Who takes care of this: The family, Labaman
The aviso di morto: what goes in it and where to place itVisitors at home in the days before the funeral
How to organise the visits at home, and what we can do.
Who takes care of this: The family, Labaman
Visitors at home in the days before the funeralFamily in the Netherlands: taking part from afar
How family abroad can help arrange things and stay involved.
Who takes care of this: The family, Labaman
Family in the Netherlands: taking part from afarWhat you can do for someone who has just lost someone
Practical help that truly helps, without getting in the way.
Who takes care of this: The family
What you can do for someone who has just lost someone
Tradishon
Customs, dishes, language and the meaning behind the rituals.
The laba man: meaning and how to organise it
Why we wash our hands after the funeral, and how to arrange it.
Who takes care of this: Labaman
The laba man: meaning and how to organise itOcho dia: the eight days after the funeral
What the ocho dia is, where the name comes from and how to organise it.
Who takes care of this: The family, Labaman
Ocho dia: the eight days after the funeralKos di boka and what is traditionally served
Letter, peanut cookies, chuculati: what is on the table and why.
Who takes care of this: Labaman
Kos di boka and what is traditionally servedAntes i awor: visiting evenings then and now
What a visiting evening used to look like and what has changed, without judgement.
Who takes care of this: The family
Antes i awor: visiting evenings then and now
Historia di hende
Stories and memories of people who lived it up close.
Palabra di nos grandinan: stories from older generations
Conversations with people who know the traditions up close. Coming soon.
Who takes care of this: Labaman
Palabra di nos grandinan: stories from older generations
Checklist to download
A printable checklist with all the steps is coming soon.