Family members of the 16 people who died from suspected food poisoning at Kayova Village in Kavango East Region are finding it hard to cope emotionally.

It's been close to six weeks since the family buried their 16 relatives.

43-year-old Marando Shishugho is the eldest son.

Apart from losing his firstborn, he also lost nephews, nieces, and a sibling.

Shishugho says that at the moment, the family's feelings can only be described in two words. "Feeling Lost."  

"It feels like there are no people in the world. I can't sleep well because I have a lot of thoughts. During the burial preparations, there were a lot of people at home, which distracted us from negative thoughts. But now that everyone has left, we are finding it difficult to find comfort. " 

Shishugho says the family is still poverty-stricken, adding that they are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

He says some relatives are still selling reeds in exchange for maize meal.

"Since my children died, I refused to exchange reeds for traditional alcohol residue or maize meal.  I will not do it and would rather starve. My wife's younger sister recently went to exchange reeds for maize meal, and we stopped her. This problem is not over yet, and you still want to sell reeds for maize meal after family members died. You still want to be poisoned? In any case, the maize meal she got was fine because they all turned out fine."

Shishugho says the attention they received before and during the funeral is a far cry from the reality they are living now.

"We received a lot of visitors when the funeral was in progress. They brought electricity, and lights were available throughout. When we finished the burial, we had electricity for one week before they removed it. We are scared to attend to visitors in the evening because we are in the dark."

Shishugho believes that it will take a long time for the family to come to terms with what happened.