Monday, April 20, 2009

Too Much of a Good Thing

I found this interesting article and video about a man in Ethiopia with 12 wives and 78 children. Here is an excerpt from the article:

In this remote, densely-populated region of Ethiopia, it is common for men to have multiple wives. In Ayatu's case this tradition has backfired. Years ago, he had enough land and food to satisfy everyone's needs. This changed when Ayatu had to sell land or cattle to make the dowry payment for each new wife he took, usually a sum of between $500 and $1,000. Now, the family compound is almost bare from overgrazing, two of his wives have moved with cattle in search of greener pastures, and two others died from unknown illnesses in the 1990s. The situation is so desperate that Ayatu cannot afford to send his children to secondary school, and he is marrying off two of his 15-year-old daughters to ensure they are fed. Thirteen others are living with their married siblings.

Read the article or you can watch the video:

1 comment:

Robbin Hopkins said...

Thanks Valarie. As difficult as it is to imagine poverty. This article and story gave those a face who are too often judged for their life choices. Hopefully the education will work and even more lets hope that the procedures are doing what they are being told that they will... Not going there I know lol...

Original Court Date: April 18, 2009
Final Court Date: May 18, 2009
[607 total days & 165 days w/IAN]