Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀
Quotes
“This is it then — fifteen years here and, though my house is not on fire, all I’m taking is a bag of gold and a change of clothes. The things that matter are inside me, locked up below my breast as though in a grave, a place of permanence, my coffin-like treasure chest.”
“I loved Yejide from the very first moment. No doubt about that. But there are things even love can’t do. Before I got married, I believed love could do anything. I learned soon enough that it couldn’t bear the weight of four years without children. If the burden is too much and stays too long, even love bends, cracks, comes close to breaking and sometimes does break. But even when it’s in a thousand pieces around your feet, that doesn’t mean it’s no longer love.”
“But the biggest lies are often the ones we tell ourselves. I bit my tongue because I did not want to ask questions. I did not ask questions because I did not want to know the answers. It was convenient to believe my husband was trustworthy; sometimes faith is easier than doubt.”
Pounded yam is mentioned throughout the story. What is pounded yam?
Nigeria is one of the world’s biggest producers of yam, and yam is a staple food in the country. One of the most popular ways to prepare and serve yam is through pounded yam. It is is one of Nigeria’s most popular meals. I have never tasted it before, but it looks so delicious, and very similar in the look and way of preparation to mochi (which originates in japan, made from glutinous rice that is first steamed, or from glutinous rice flour and water, and then pounded and mashed).
It is eaten with various Nigerian soup recipes, such as with Egusi Soup:
Click on this great link to find out more about how yam, and pounded yam is so closely intertwined with the Nigerian culture.
On the era that the story is set in.
The timeline is set in Nigeria between the mid 1980s and 2008. To understand more about this period, it is worthwhile to take a look at the history since its independence.
Nigeria gained independence from Britain under Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa and President Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1960. Since its independence, numerous coups were staged, with various leadership changeovers between 1966 and late 1990s, First Republic to Fourth Republic. Military rule ended in 1999. In the 2000s, ethnic violence was prominent, as well as violence surrounding oil, along with the underlying current of political unrest and violence. Since 2002, the country has seen sectarian violence by Boko Haram, a movement that seeks to abolish the secular system of government and establish Sharia law in the country. Overall, it appears that the economic situation is improving, with an emerging socioeconomic divide between the North and South.
Going back to the story, another aspect that stood out to me was that polygamy appears to be common in Nigeria.
On sickle cell disease and its presence in the country.
A biological sciences background helps me understand why SCD is so prevalent in Nigeria.
Sickle cell disorder is by far the commonest inherited disorder in the world and a large proportion of it occurs in Africa. At least 100,000 babies die from the disorder in Nigeria every year according to 2014 statistics by the World Health Organisation (WHO), making it the number one sickle-cell endemic country in Africa.
Sickle cell disorder is an inherited haemoglobin disorder. You need 2 sickle genes to have the disorder. People with one sickle gene and one normal gene are called carriers. The sickle genes remain high within the population as people who are carriers are more protected against malaria, which is prevalent in the area. This encourages the sickle gene to remain in the population via carriers and emerge as SCD when carriers of the disease have children.
Given that SCD is so closely related to malaria, to tackle SCD in the population which causes lots of morbidity and mortality, I believe that we must first and foremost tackle malaria in the region.
