More from Sarah Elzas
Gay parents in France - on the fringes of the law
(00:28:30)
From: Sarah Elzas
Same-sex couples who want to have children face many hurdles, more than one might imagine
Baking Christmas in August
(00:03:39)
From: Sarah Elzas
In the heat of the summer, pastry chefs look ahead to the busy Christmas season
Homophobia still strong in Romania
(00:03:14)
From: Sarah Elzas
Romania is the most homophobic country in the EU, according to EU surveys, which highlights the problems with conforming to an EU culture of tolerance.
On board with the Greek Coast Guard
(00:10:39)
From: Sarah Elzas
Greece is struggling on the front lines of immigration into Europe
American Purgatory: Political Asylum in the Age of Terrorism
(00:53:56)
From: Sarah Elzas
How does the US provide protection to people who are persecuted?
Pet Cemetery
(00:03:52)
From: Sarah Elzas
Our curious relationship with our pets, even when they die.
Adopt a Child, Save a Life
(00:11:59)
From: Sarah Elzas
An operation to evacuate orphans from Darfur, and bring them to France
Where are the Iraqis in France?
(00:10:54)
From: Sarah Elzas
Why are there so few Iraqi asylum seekers in France?
Related Pieces
Piece Description
Each year hundreds of people die in France alone, without family or friends to bury them. Many are homeless, living on the street. French law gives everyone the right to a proper burial, free of charge. But if there’s no one to bury you, it’s just grave diggers lowering a body into the ground. A few years ago, a group of homeless advocates decided to change this by being present at every burial of an unclaimed body. The idea is that paying respect to the dead humanizes the living...
Broadcast History
September 14, 2009 on Radio France International (www.rfienglish.com)
Transcript
It’s a Monday morning at the Thiais cemetery, about 20 minutes south of Paris.
Four cemetery employees, dressed like waiters - black trousers, white shirt, thin black ties – but wearing work boots and gloves, crank up the heavy stone cover of a white tomb.
[Crank sound]
Rows of identical tombs stretch out in every direction – this part of the cemetery has the impersonal feel of a parking lot, despite some attempts at landscaping.
[ambi]
This is section 102, reserved for the free burials provided by the city of Paris.
Until 2003, if you died and no one claimed your body, you’d be buried here without much ceremony.
Since then, though, volunteers from a collective called ‘Les Morts de la Rue’ – the dead of the streets -- have been showing up, to mark these burials with simple ceremonies.
Today, like every Monday and Wednesday morning, two people from the group are here, Thomas C...
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