Yesterday morning we were at the Chief’s tukul in Marialbai. A father and two sons came to visit the Chief to resolve a conflict. It seems the man’s two sons married at the same time, but he only had seven cows for dowry. Dilemma: How do you divide seven cows between two families? Four were given to the family of the woman marrying the older son and the remaining three to the family of the younger son. But this sparked a conflict within the family and the Chief’s advice was sought to help reconcile the parties. We joke about King Solomon addressing a similar dispute – how to divide one baby between two mothers. My suggestion is politely ignored – give three cows each, and use the other one for a BBQ for a joint wedding celebration. Im glad Im not the Chief!
Spare a thought too for for the poor woman in Juba who is receiving numerous phone calls for a tall, bald kawaja variously know as Steve, Mojokdit, Lukudu, Wani, Abuna or Beny-Steve. Before leaving I printed some labels to attach to the back of my business cards with additional contact information including my Sudan numbers. Except I put two of the digits in the wrong order. Whoops!
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