Creating Ripples - Hasina Zaman

Hasina Zaman is the CEO of Compassionate Funerals which was founded in 2012. She believes that the way we live is the way we die. "When we decide to live well, we decide to die well, allowing us to leave the world a better place." She accepts those we leave behind will be saddened by our loss. Our heart's job is to love one another. With death, the heart feels sadness. It is our responsibility to care for people who are bereaved and to return them back to their life's purpose.

Hasina quickly realised that the public feared and stayed away from engaging with and embracing death, dying and bereavement. She decided to work with various end of life care organisations to open up the arena of death and dying, and host Death Cafes, in partnership with a variety of community groups. Hosting Death Cafes has allowed Hasina to experience and embrace difficult conversations on death and dying. Death Cafes attract people from all walks of life who share their experiences of personal bereavement, planning our departure, feelings about their own death and different types of death, such as suicide, accidental, baby/child to sudden deaths. They offer an open and safe space that allows attendees to explore unresolved experiences and can be a hugely healing. Each Death Cafe has a natural occurring theme.

In May 2015, Hasina's eldest brother died. She led his funeral and hosted a Death Café with her siblings and his music family. The theme that evolved was one of the journey of the soul.

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