In the morning Zairians celebrate the dead, and in the afternoon, the living. Residents of Kinshasa, for example, go to the cemeteries early to clear and spruce up family graves. Fires are set to burn away the tall weeds and elephant grass, which at the end of the rain season are very dry but so thick as to be impenetrable. As the grasses burn, tomb stones, grave markers, and crosses appear through the smoke and flames. Visitors dodge these uncontrolled fires to sweep off their ancestors' graves and perhaps enjoy a meal at the site with them.
Adults then return home to eat again together with the children.