In Session 7, Yam (Black Eritrean co-researcher, age 28) brought forward a painting she created for the Good Grief Commons, depicting “a woman wearing a traditional scarf to show she is in mourning”. The image, rendered primarily in black and white, shows the back of a woman draped in a scarf, its creases catching light as shadow pools across the fabric. A soft pinkish-red hue frames the front, drawing attention to where she explained “we wear our netsela with the embroidery.” With the image, Yam described:

In death, we grieve for 40 days. Then after, if you are a neighbour from a village or town, we teach you how to grieve so that you can be held by the community. ... I can't find all the tools from back home, but as a human, I practice what's here, processing with people that don't share it with me.

This reflection speaks to how grieving is both culturally grounded and collectively held, while also requiring adaptation when those practices are disrupted. Showing up for one another remains essential, even in spaces that are not conducive to these ways of grieving. Reflecting further, Yam explained.

The painting is not just about loss. It's about responsibility. When someone dies, there are things we are taught to do for each other. But what happens when those teachings become harder to access and our histories harder to reach?

Yam closes her reflection by sharing that “this painting was done to honour Eritreans who died in the Mediterranean Sea.” In doing so, she gestures to how grief is held across distance, extending into broader histories of displacement and relation.