A long story

Which is too long for me to write here. So let me shorten it a bit. In May 2006 I married a wonderful women from Southern Sudan. In her culture, when a women marries, the man gives her family a dowry. In some regards the dowry seems to equate the value of a woman to that of a bunch of cattle. I have a huge problem with this, but I do see the value of paying the dowry in order to keep good relations with my extended family.

From what I can see, the dowry is a form of a promise. A promise that the woman is going to be well taken care of and that the two would not part ways. It is also a bond between the whole of the woman’s family (brothers, father, mother, uncles, aunts, grandparents, cousins…. the list goes on) and the man because all of them benefit from the dowry given.

To this date, I havn’t given a dowry to the family of my wife. Lots of reasons behind that, the biggest being that I can’t afford it at the moment. Traditionally a dowry is given in the form of cows. In my case, I am going to have to come up with enough money to purchase my cows in order to give out to the family. Cows cost too much money in Southern Sudan these days.

The Point

I want to sell this shirt in an attempt to make a bit of money to pay dowry. It is a bit ironic. I want to sell a shirt with a message that women are not equal cattle so that I can raise some money to buy cows and pay dowry to my wife’s family. What do I do though?

So, if you interested in helping me out with my endeavor, click on the sweatshirt above. It will take you to my spreadshirt store where I have put up six shirts with the same design. A couple of hoodies, for both boys n girls as well as a few regular t-shirts.