Funeral in Thailand.

The past week has been very interesting for me and has deeply affected me, the children, and the teachers in my project.

On Wednesday, August 21st, Jürgen Zimmer, the founder of the School for Life in Chiang Mai, passed away.

His wish was to be buried in Thailand and in the project, which led to all of us participating in the funeral. The ceremony began on Thursday in a temple in Chiang Mai and lasted until Wednesday, August 28th.

Until Sunday evening, there was continuous opportunity to go to the temple and say goodbye to Jürgen. Relatives from Germany, school donors, friends, his wife, former students, and all the students and teachers of the School for Life, including us volunteers, came.

There was the opportunity to participate in ceremonies where monks recited their prayers and gifts were given to the deceased and the temple.

Unlike in Germany, the atmosphere during the stay in the temple was not necessarily somber. There was music, plenty of food, and relatives and friends took photos in front of the coffin. The dress code was also much more relaxed than in Germany. We were free to wear black or white and a simple T-shirt was sufficient.

What I found very surprising were the fans that friends and acquaintances brought as gifts. However, it seems to be customary in Thailand to give the deceased something useful, and these items are donated after the funeral.

It was very touching for me to see that someone was always with Jürgen throughout the entire time and there was the opportunity to say goodbye to him at any moment during the five days. Accordingly, family members had the opportunity to seek the moment with him at a self-chosen time and say their goodbyes, as the temple offered this opportunity the entire time.

On Monday, we all walked together to the crematorium and said our final goodbyes to Jürgen. During this time, there were constant instructions from a man who told us what would happen next or who should come forward. This was the last opportunity for the family to say their goodbyes.

Here, too, it became evident that Thai funeral ceremonies differ greatly from German Christian ceremonies and that Thais, especially the children, are much more open about death. For example, the students of the school, some of whom are in kindergarten, were lifted up to take another look at Jürgen and say their goodbyes.

The next parts of the funeral ceremony took place directly at the school and were partly in English. Especially the Christian service on Wednesday was very typical for us, and the German relatives also had the opportunity to say something, which was then translated into Thai.

Jürgen Zimmer's life path was reflected upon and we learned a lot about his life. The entire ceremony was led by a German pastor who was responsive to the family's wishes and conducted the service very openly. Jürgen's favorite songs were played, sung by the students, and videos of relatives or students were shown.

Afterwards, we all went together to the place where Jürgen was buried and said our goodbyes individually by placing a flower and earth on his grave.

The ceremony was then concluded with a communal lunch.

For us volunteers, there was an opportunity in the evening to eat and drink together with the teachers.

Again, this was very atypical for us, as the atmosphere in the evening was very lively and there was lots of laughter between karaoke, food, and drink. However, it was also a very beautiful experience and at all times, it felt like that's exactly what Jürgen would have wanted.