TAMU had been married for a decade. She had been given out in marriage at an early age, 17 to be precise, to her suitor Chief Adu who was 50years then, in an arranged marriage. She could recall how traumatic the news was to her when her mother told her of their decision. Her plan to become a nurse in the nearest future was shattered. Although at that time, she didn’t know the reason for her parents’ decision, but later on, she learnt it had to do with a debt settlement. In short, she was the price her parents couldn’t pay.

Chief Adu already had four wives and Tamu was the youngest of all. Among them, Shella was the only one who showed her some affection. The rest treated her with scorn, most especially when they were envious of Chief Adu dream of having a male child coming to fruition through his new wife. She had learnt that none of his wife could give birth to a male as all of their children were girls. But it had been 10 years down the line, and no sign of her having a child yet, not even a girl.

After three months in Chief Adu’s cottage, she had been taken to the native healer, who after consulting the gods said she was fertile. Concoctions were made and administered on her, but yet, no result of pregnancy. The native healer advised Chief Adu to be patient for the gods. But after all attempts by Chief Adu failed to yield any positive results, he finally threw in the towel. In just a year and a half, he was done.

This unfortunate turn of event pitted Chief Adu against her parents. He alleged her parents were evil people who were not grateful for the good he had done them, as he threatened to return her back to them and to collect back the debt they owed him. Series of meetings were held by both families and in the end, Chief Adu was told to retain his wife because he had also consumed the money which is now in the form of a wife. In all of this, she had felt humiliated and being a victim of everything that was happening. Nobody ever cared to know how she felt, save for Shella.

It has been 10 years now. Chief Adu had abandoned her to fend for herself since the issue of infertility she was accused of dominated the home. What makes matters worse was the constant mockery the other wives kept subjecting her to. In fact, apart from Shella, the other wives would not want their children to go near her, as they accuse her of being a witch who had eaten up all her children.

Then one day, the town crier announced that the community would be receiving some strangers and everybody was informed to gather at the palace of the clan chief before sunset the next day. They were told that it was a very important meeting.

And so, the next day, everyone gathered to know who the strangers were and what the meeting would be all about. To quell their anxiety, the people were told that the strangers were health officials who were sponsored by a foreign agency to their community. These health workers were mandated to embark on free medical treatment as part of a world body called ‘World Health Organisation (WHO)’ to help the less privileged residing in rural communities to have access to quality medical care at no cost. The modus operandi, the health workers told the people, would be in three phases: first, they would carry out tests; secondly, they would administer treatments on mild illness after tests and lastly, educate the people on ways to avoid contacting general diseases. For illnesses that could not be treated immediately, they would make referrals for patients to visit the general hospital in the city to receive free treatment. They would be staying for two weeks in the process of performing their assignments.

The town head mandated everyone to comply with their directives. And so, the volunteer health workers set up camp and on a daily basis dispatch some of their members to embark on house to house visitation. Various tests ranging from eye, malaria/typhoid, diabetic, blood pressure, etc. were conducted and many were given free medicals for their illness and even eye correction lenses for those with eye defects.

When the health workers visited the home of Chief Adu, Tamu decided to tell them of her plight. One of them, Miss Rossy, suggested a fertility test to be done on both her and the husband. When Chief Adu heard of it, he was very upset as he said it was an insult on him. He drove the health officials out of his home, claiming Tamu had bewitched them into arriving at such hilarious decision. The head of the health officials stepped into the case and counseled Chief Adu. After much appeal, the chief decided to give it a try.

When the results came out, it was discovered that Tamu was very much fertile while Chief Adu has a low sperm count which made it impossible for his wife to conceive. In the process of further investigation, it was also discovered that the intake of a local food substance by the chief was very much responsible for the sickness. At first, Chief Adu would not agree but when he was asked on why none of his other wives had taken in after more than 9 years, he became perplexed. It was then it dawned on him that he was so focused on Tamu that he hadn’t thought of that.

Unfortunately, the test results showed that his situation had deteriorated and it will be quite challenging to reverse. Chief Adu was told to stop consumption of the food substance and to begin the intake of special drugs with the hope of reversing the situation. The community people were also advised to shun the consumption of the substance as well.

When word got out, Tamu’s mother requested for her daughter to leave the marriage as she doesn’t want her to be in a marriage where the possibility of giving birth to children is doubtful. The matter was taken to the community head where Tamu’s father volunteered to repay the debt owed Chief Adu for their daughter to come back home.

Tamu was asked of her opinion on the issue. With tears in her eyes she said:

“If these people [Health Workers] had not come I would have continually suffered ignorantly at the hands of not just Chief Adu but his wives, for a fault that was never mine. No amount of money is ever enough to replace a human being. My dear parents did not consider my poor state as my own opinion didn’t matter to them. Chief Adu who himself is old enough to be my father had the guts to take me as a wife in exchange for a debt. I guess he would gladly do the same for his daughters. Before we judge and condemn others, we should first make sure our hands are clean. For 10years I have been abused and labeled a witch. My welfare was even denied me and I was hated by those who should’ve shown me love, being women themselves. Now you ask my opinion, but does it matter? Women have never been given the freedom to speak, how much more to make decisions in their homes. Who knows, so many like me are out there, suffering from this problem. Those who contributed to my plight cannot claim to love me more. If this issue had not risen, would they have sought to take me back? I begged them not to put me into this, but they refused. And now they want me back. Will that undo the deed that has been done?”

THE END

So, what do you think? If you were in her shoes or happened to be any of the character (Chief Adu, the parents of Tamu and the community head) what would be your counsel to Tamu?

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