Then she got sick yet again, lay on a reed mat with glazed eyes and a cough, and went into hospital. There, just before midnight, she died. Viral infection of the lungs, they said. A lot of people die in Maputo's Central Hospital. One side is three huge adjacent chapels, three bays with tall doors that open on a parking lot, wide enough to take a hearse.
Funerals go on in all three continuously.
Out on the pavement, other mourners wait for their turn. Don' t ever let anyone tell you that in countries where many people die the people who were close to them get used to death and don't grieve much. Two hundred people came to Arminda's funeral. All but the youngest of the Liberdade girls came, packed in two pickup trucks. Eight of Arminda's classmates and her teacher.