When you suffer because of a story, it is enough to convince you that the story is true. Ghanaian women living in the village of Mamfe Dove have long believed in, and suffered for the story that the gods would be angered if a woman gave birth in this village.
Consequently, apart from expectant women going to neighboring villages to give birth, no one living in this village was born there. One wonders why the gods allow women to get pregnant in that village, in the first place.
All societies across the globe are rife with unconventional stories and beliefs. So, it’s not unusual to come across contradictory beliefs as long as you exist where two or more people are.
What is startling, however, is the power of these stories and the extent to which a set of unorthodox beliefs and stories can inform the choices of a large section of humanity.
BBC News