UNifeed: ETHIOPIA / POLYGAMY

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ETHIOPIA / POLYGAMY

Once a wealthy landowner, Ayatu Nure followed the age-old tradition of his people, and took more than one wife. In fact, he took twelve wives. Now he struggles to feed his 78 children. UNTV

Duration:08:56Date:14 March 2009

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United Nations Television, POPULATION, ETHIOPIA

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Full Script

STORY: ETHIOPIA / POLYGAMY
TRT: 8.56
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: AMHARIC / ENGLISH / OROMIFFA / NATS

DATELINE: DECEMBER 2008, OROMIYA REGION, ETHIOPIA

SHOTLIST:

DECEMBER 2008, OROMIYA REGION, ETHIOPIA
 
1. Med shot, women gathered preparing lunch
2. Med shot, Ende
3. Med shot, Simba
4. Close up, Buja
5. Close up, Orade
6. Close up, rice being cooked
7. Med shot, Ayatu Nure
8. Pan right, from handling rice to rice pot
9. Tilt up, from wives cooking to Ayatu
10. Med shot, cleaning hands
11. Med shot, wives sitting and preparing meal
12. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Some say I need to spend two days with each of them.  Some say one day is enough.  I discuss it with them, and they decide.”  
13. Wide shot, green lands
14. Various shots, farmers
15. Wide shot, family pausing for portrait
16. Med shot, Ayatu
17. Pan right, family posing for portrait
18. Med shot, one of Ayatu’s grandchildren
19. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
“When they are seated in a group – five or six – I would say: ‘Who’s there?’
And they would say, ‘It’s us’. And I would say: ‘Who?’”
20. Med shot, Ayatu and children
21. Close up, Ayatu
22. Wide shot, woman with cattle 
23. Med shot, Ayatu walking with cattle and stick in hand
24. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Life was easy for me before. I had land, property and money.  I could feed all of them.”
25. Wide shot, sunrise
26. Wide shot, morning mist
27. Various shots, Ayatu in the morning 
28. Med shot, female Oribi feeding offspring
29. Wide shot, Buja entering hut
30. Med shot, Ayatu sitting watching over valley with stick in hand
31. Wide shot, Ayatu sitting watching over valley with stick in hand
32. Close up, Ayatu
33. Wide shot, street scene and Ayatu on horseback to market
34. Various shots, market scenes
35. Med shot, boy trying on trousers
36. Pan left, from merchant counting money to Ayatu
37. Wide shot, Ayatu talking to merchant
38. Med shot, back of Ayatu and sons walking away
39. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “I cannot afford their food, clothing, school materials and rent.  I have a big problem.  There is no more property and I am getting tired.”
40. Med shot, Ayatu walking with stick
41. Wide shot, Ende walking
42. Wide shot, Ayatu in front of his hut
43. Wide shot, family portrait
44. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ende, first wife, 65 years old:
“I loved him.  I married him.  I had his children.  Why should I hate him now?”
45. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “She’s my first wife; the one I married when I was young.  She’s my life.”  
46. Med shot, Zenaba with cattle
47. SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
“Everybody loves him.  Because everyone loves him, I got carried away also.”
48. Med shot, women shelling corn
49. SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
 “Those who finished school are unable to find work.  In the meantime, the young ones are growing up fast.”  
50. Med shot, Zenaba calling her children
51. Wide shot, cattle and children climbing hill
52. Med shot, one of Zenaba’s children walking
53. SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
 “I am taking injections, every three months.”  
54. Various shots, family planning session with woman
55. Med shot, woman showing arm 
56. Wide shot, session
57. Close up, man at family planning session
58. Med shot, men asking questions
59. Various shots, obtaining condoms
60. Various shots, faces of women in session
61. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “The day turned black on me.  When I see my children hungry…when I am able to clothe one and not another or they go without eating.  Can I eat when they’re not eating?”  
62. Med shot, Ayatu surrounded by family
63. Various shots, Ayatu’s wives and children
64. Various shots, street scenes
65. Various shots, Dr. Monique Rakotomalala in her office
66. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Monique Rakotomalala, United Nations Population Fund, Ethiopia:
“They cannot sustain a 2.7 percent population growth rate per year. That means two million new people every year.”  
67. Med shot, women holding crying infant
68. Close up, infant
69. Wide shot, street scene
70. Wide shot, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus with assistant
71. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health, Ethiopia:
“We have to educate our communities and tell them the benefits of having less children because it will bring a better quality of life to each household.”  
72. Various shots, Dagne with his sons, and two wives
73. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Dagne, thirty-year-old, Ayatu’s eldest son:
“Since he had so much property, I expected it to be enough for all of us.”  
74. Med shot, Dagne holding certificates
75. Various shots, men reaping barley
76. Pan right, Dagne and children eating corn
77. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Dagne, thirty-year-old, Ayatu’s eldest son:
 “This is a lesson for everyone.  I know how difficult it was and how he is struggling to feed everyone.  I would even advise others not to follow this example.”   
78. Wide shot, Ayatu coming out of his hut
79. Med shot, Ayatu’s children inside their hut
80. Wide shot, Ayatu watching his children coming out of hut
81. SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Having children is good. The problem is having too many.  If you get married have one or two children.” 
82. Wide shot, Ayatu and children walk away

STORYLINE:

It’s eleven o’clock in the morning and Ende, Simba, Buja and Arade are getting lunch ready. They’re all married to this man, 65-year-old Ayatu Nure.

Maintaining a large family is a challenge.  How to divide time between so many spouses is another.  But for Ayatu Nure, the decision is made for him by his wives.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Some say I need to spend two days with each of them.  Some say one day is enough.  I discuss it with them, and they decide.”

In Ethiopia’s remote, densely-populated region of Oromiya, it’s common for men to have at least four wives as long as they can provide for them and their children.

But this is not your usual family.  Ayatu Nure has twelve wives and 78 children.

So many children, Ayatu can’t even remember their names.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
“When they are seated in a group – five or six – I would say: ‘Who’s there?’
And they would say, ‘It’s us’. And I would say: ‘Who?’”

Apart from forgetting names, Ayatu never worried about having such a large family.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Life was easy for me before. I had land, property and money.  I could feed all of them.”

But all that changed when Ayatu saw the land that he’d inherited from his father shrink to just 10 hectares.

For each new wife that he took, he sold land or cattle to meet the dowry payment, typically 500 to 1,000 US dollars.  What was left was not enough to maintain his large family.

Having many children is a sign of a man’s wealth in this part of the world.  But for Ayatu, it backfired.  Now he is paying the price – poverty.

Once a week, Ayatu makes his way to the market in Kofale some 25 kilometers from his home.  Today he is accompanied by two of his sons.

One of his sons needs a pair of trousers; Ayatu can’t afford the price asked by the vendor, 60 birr or six dollars.

What’s more ten of Ayatu’s teenage boys had to quit secondary school this year. Paying the annual boarding cost of roughly 1,300 dollars for all of them was impossible.

Sending his girls to school proved difficult also. So he decided to marry off two of his 15-year-old daughters to ease the burden.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “I cannot afford their food, clothing, school materials and rent.  I have a big problem.  There is no more property and I am getting tired.”

His first wife, Ende, is also 65 years old.  They married when they were both 15. She bore him ten children, seven of whom survived.

Despite their economic hardship, Ende bears him no grudge for making her share her husband and their resources with so many others.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ende, first wife, 65 years old:
“I loved him.  I married him.  I had his children.  Why should I hate him now?”

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “She’s my first wife; the one I married when I was young.  She’s my life.”

His last wife, Zenaba, has three children.  She still wanted to marry Ayatu in spite of his reversal of fortune.

SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
“Everybody loves him.  Because everyone loves him, I got carried away also.”

But, Zeneba is now very worried about the future.

SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
 “Those who finished school are unable to find work.  In the meantime, the young ones are growing up fast.”

Not willing to leave the size of her family to fate, she is now taking steps.

SOUNDBITE (Oromiffa) Zenaba, last wife:
 “I am taking injections, every three months.”

To assist women like Ayatu’s wives, the Government of Ethiopia launched a network of 29,000 health extension workers who teach both men and women about family planning.

Two of Ayatu’s wives are using long-term implants.  Many women in remote villages opt for this method because of the distance between their homes and health centers.

Men are also interested in learning more about choosing when and when not to have children.

Here they anxiously jostle for condom packets. Ayatu is one of them.  He’s discouraging his wives from having any more children.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “The day turned black on me.  When I see my children hungry…when I am able to clothe one and not another or they go without eating.  Can I eat when they’re not eating?”

Ayatu’s family is outsized even by Ethiopian standards where having at least five children per mother is the norm.  With the population of the country now at 73 million, Dr. Monique Rakotomalala of the United Nations Population Fund in Ethiopia is concerned.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Monique Rakotomalala, United Nations Population Fund, Ethiopia:
“They cannot sustain a 2.7% population growth rate per year. That means two million new people every year.”

At this rate, the population could double over the next 24 years, severely stretching existing resources.

Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health, says the secret is smaller families.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health, Ethiopia:
“We have to educate our communities and tell them the benefits of having less children because it will bring a better quality of life to each household.”

Households like that of 30-year-old Dagne, Ayatu’s eldest son.  He lives here with his two wives and eight children.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Dagne, thirty-year-old, eldest son:
“Since he had so much property, I expected it to be enough for all of us.”

To avoid being trapped like his father, Dagne put himself through school and is now a teacher in the community.  He farms when he’s not in the classroom.

His brothers and neighbors are helping to reap barley today.

It has been a good harvest this year.  So Dagne is able to share the burden of caring for some of his siblings.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Dagne, thirty-year-old, eldest son:
 “This is a lesson for everyone.  I know how difficult it was and how he is struggling to feed everyone.  I would even advise others not to follow this example.”

But Ayatu’s legacy is much more than the family he created.  Now he has become an advocate in the community warning others not to make the same mistakes he did.

SOUNDBITE (Amharic) Ayatu Nure, 65-year-old, polygamist:
 “Having children is good. The problem is having too many.  If you get married have one or two children.”

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