It’s rare that Michael has a lot to say so, I asked him a
couple of questions and sat silently for the responses. Y’all gotta know that
the previous lessons on waiting silently totally came in handy that morning. I gently
nudged him so he remembered that I’d asked a question and was waiting for the
answer. So, on the question of “Is there an advantage to having multiple
wives?” – here is what he had to say…verbatim.

He began with the analogy of the Dinka wrestlers who drink
lots of milk in order to get fat enough to beat their opponent. The men will
drink milk for days and get really big. As they gain weight, they are able to
use their mass to defeat the competition but, they also cause their bodies to
fight in order to save them from obesity.

The men make getting fat a competition. It’s good that
you’re winning but when the competition is done, when he’s sick, now what? Some
of them –  they die in the process
because their hearts stop. They try to fatten themselves and fatten themselves.

You know, to say that you’re rich and you have all
this…amount of cows or wives or whatever…there is no advantage. What impact are
you making? None. Negative. To me, it’s negative.

I may look at it [negatively] because part of me is on his
side (his own niece). People may see him doing positive stuff but to me it’s
not. I look at my niece and this crooked somebody may [get her sick from being
with others] we won’t know and we don’t have control over it. All his security
can even violate women and it’s not going to come up.

Part of the problem is that he “gives” them (the women)
away. So, I don’t see positive. Like you saw me yesterday, I kind of did
something but, I didn’t feel bad. After we introduced ourselves, my niece came
right? You had all these perverts sitting around right and they wanted my niece
to sit so they can talk – for what?  I’m
like, come, I’m going. And these are his supporters. I’m like get up, I’m about
to go. You guys can do all this when I’m not here. I’m not happy at all.

So they have their own little pride. And that’s when I told
her, “I need to see these women.”
I do my stuff a little differently. I’m going to shake their
hands and say hello and see if they’re happy. Those women are not happy. Some
of those women are sick. Some of these little girls are scarred to death[by
being one of many wives and having children at a young age].
What about the kids that don’t even know him? What about the
women that left with their children?
The difference is our culture. If it were my sister, I’d
have 80% rights to do what I have to do [in order to change the situation]. But
this is my niece and he has gotten the support of the family already. And that
was like a slap in the face to me.

It’s heartbreaking. Even you know I talked to my niece…she
said, “Uncle, I’ve been cheated. My first born, I didn’t know how to raise a
baby…really I didn’t know what to do with a kid…I just learned on my way.” For
many of the women, it’s just directions – “do this, do that”.

Before telling his joke, one of the men asked him why he had
so many wives. He said marriage is for the blind. Like there is no truth to it.
You just fall and get one [a wife]…so it gave me a little understanding…the
dude is sick…you just saying that women are blind and you’re leading the blind. 

Michael Mading – In his own words.