The instructions

I stand to speak as the eldest son in his house,

On behalf of all my brothers and sisters, I am happy to welcome you Abigael, daughter of Kano,

The Luo customs dictate that I call you Mother even though I am almost twice your age,

Out of the respect that I have for my father and the choice that he has made to marry you,

I will obey you and treat as you as my mother.

Daughter of Kano we have lived peacefully in this homestead,

As you can see, ours is an extended family,

When my father married his second wife, Nyar Gem, our neighbors said that he invited trouble,

Even us, his children, thought it was not going to be business as usual,

But many years have come and gone and we have not seen that that trouble.

When my father married his third wife, Nyar Homa-Bay, our neighbors said he shot himself in the feet,

That he will not survive one year before trouble consumes him,

Even us, his children, thought he had gone too far,

But many years have come and gone and we have not seen that trouble.

Why?

Why have we not experienced trouble despite the fact that we are a very large family?

Why do other polygamous families experience hate, fights, jealousy and quarrels on a daily basis but for us we have managed to live peacefully?

The answer is respect,

We have given our mothers the respect they deserve,

They have also given us the respect that we deserve,

All we are asking from you, daughter of Kano, is respect.

You are still a very young girl with warm blood running through your veins,

As you can see our father is now an old man,

The fact that you have chosen him means you have agreed to endure all that comes with old age,

He may not be able to meet some of your needs,

For example, nowadays he does not go to the farm,

So do not expect him to rise up early in the morning with a hoe in his hands,

It is you to attend to your farm and make sure that he is well fed,

Do not embarrass us by running around younger men,

We shall not allow such embarrassments to break our family,

Respect your co-wives and treat them with dignity,

Like you said, let us tolerate each other and we shall live well.

“Waruaki.”