When I was a child growing up, I had a fascination for watching migratory birds to and from Mopti in present day Burkina Faso. I would sit under the sheanut tree in front of the house and watch them in the millions flying to and from their destinations. Some of the birds did lose their bearings during the flight and entangled themselves with telegraph wires. Early in the mornings, boys of my age group combed the area to find such unfortunate birds. One morning, I had gotten there before everyone else and had the fortune of picking 10 birds. My straw bag was almost full. That find made me dream of a scheme in which I could erect poles with finely woven string as high as the telegraph wires so that the birds could not see it from afar until they found themselves in this netlike structure. So instead of casting a net into the water for fish, my dream was to cast it into the air for birds. Even though the scheme never came to fruition, I still believe if anyone had sponsored me, it would have been a good invention.

The name of this book, Survival At All Costs, which is my second dream, focuses on life around a young boy within a village society where life is relatively simple. This life of simplicity relies much on nature. It is also centered on spirituality to the highest levels and in adherence to the principles of Akanari Nde Sisko. Interpretation: Anything that looks or sounds obscene is forbidden. In other words, it is a life surrounded by Traditionalist religious dogma and rigidity. Akanari Nde Sisko is actually a list of declarations or principles which everyone has to follow strictly. It is based on an original religion still practiced in Guruntenga. Known as Baghakaabku, it is a religion that dates back to the beginning of time and is still practiced by the indigenous peoples of Alkebulan or Africa, its modern name. It may be called differently in other parts of Africa but the belief system is the same. Baghakaabku simply means the worship of Bagre (Teken(u) or obelisk and those who practice the religion, the worshipers of the Bagre (Teken) or obelisk are referred to as Baghakaaba or Baghakaabdoma. The Bagre (singular), and Bagha (plural) (Teken) or obelisk(s) are the symbols of many Deities including Naayinne (God) himself. It is believed that violators of these principles or declarations receive punishments not after death but right here on earth. The most serious of these principles is respecting your elders, especially your parents. It also carries the heaviest punishment if violated. Known as Naasa Fo So la fo Ma, or Honor your Father and Mother, this principle is so powerful, abiding by its tenets grants the believer with blessings of the highest order beginning with one’s parents and then God. The first principle is Zuta Naayinne. The meaning is Fear Almighty God. Akanari Nde Sisko is fully elaborated in Chapter 20, The Scare of Hell.

Why is this particular principle considered the highest among the rest numbering almost 50? Because of the belief that one’s first “Gods” are their Father and Mother, offending one’s parents therefore is offending God himself. Abiding by this principle is what makes one’s Father and Mother worthy of the full meaning of parents or parenthood. It is an honor given them by their siblings from their old age to the day of their deaths and beyond. After the death of the parents, the honor includes befitting burials, final funeral rites and the erecting of the Bagre (Teken) or obelisk in their memory. The honor does not end at the erection of the Bagre (Teken) or obelisk. Sacrifices are made to the parents at any time of their request and during festivals. There is always direct communication between the parents and their children. Through the Bakolko, the dead communicate with the family advising them on important issues. Chapter 13 explains in detail this phenomenon of the living communicating with the dead.

Zuta Naayinne (Fear Almighty God) is a frightening principle because it is believed that those who transgress against this declaration may not be punished immediately. He or she may not suffer the fate themselves, but their children may. Those condemned by this declaration may be stricken by lightning or declared a lunatic or simply disappear without a trace. If you have heard of a man, his wife and children meeting their demise at the same time and place, that is considered punishment for violating Zuta Naayiine.

This book is about a mystery at this little place called Sumbrungu in which the story of the disappearance of the Mossi man who tried to outwit the River Akudoo and paid for it is used as moral teaching. In this small village, I witnessed unbelievable events like the rain that came in the afternoon during the height of the dry season with frightening lightning to save the biggest fish we had sharpened our cutlasses to hack to death at Akongidobre or when Atalemi insulted Abuusum by stating that he had swum at bigger and better rivers and was taught a lesson after jumping into the waters of Abuusum and almost drowning. There is the story of the headless python that roamed the plains of Akongidobre for three days. But there is more. Survival At All Costs is a book about survival both individually and collectively. 99.9 % of the village population do not read or write, yet they cure their sick and wounded. How they determined that there are medicinal properties in the milk of a cow which has given a maiden birth that can cure the poisonous spit of a viper is mind boggling. But this book is particularly about the collective survival of my two ancestors, Ayinsure and Amogre, and then that of my father, Ayelah, and my own. Ayinsure, who had endured uncertainty, anxiety, anger, and hunger instead of staying in Yuam to fight his kinship, made a bold decision and founded his own village now prominently indicated on the map of Ghana. Amogre, on the other hand, having lost his vision, wandered off into the bush and got lost, only to be saved by a bat whose species still inhabits the village with its people. This is not only survival at all costs, it is survival that needs to be recognized as a biblical miracle.

Ayelah had the misfortune of losing his brother and sister after the death of his father, Azaasa. He was left alone as the only child with his uncle, Akarima, who remained a bachelor until his death, and had to start the family anew. His other two uncles were Abiio and Adagyire. Out of the four brothers only Abiio too had children of his own who were all girls. Since in Gurunjo, female children cannot culturally inherit from their biological parents, it was another miracle that at least there was one male left in the house to carry on the family name. It is amazing that Ayelah survived and that should be given proper recognition as well. Without his survival, Akolgo’s lineage among Abagna’s three wives would have become extinct. Akolgo, the first child of Abagna’s third wife, was the father of the four brothers, Akarima, Azaasa, Abiio, and Adagyire. But Ayelah did not just survive, he survived against all odds, got married and raised 10 children with a single wife, something that was socially unheard of during his time in Gurunjo. And that was not all. Ayelah’s name is now a household word in Sumbrungu. It is also the last name of his descendants numbering close to fifty. He is now an ancestor and that was not a small feat, in fact it has to be recognized as a miracle of biblical proportions.

This is by no means a contemporary history of Sumbrungu. This book is far from that. My main objective in writing this book is to invigorate discussion and tickling of memories for other writers to come forward. There are many episodes that my classmates and schoolmates can recall and narrate (maybe) even better than what I have written in this book. If others come forward with another book or two, then this pioneering effort would definitely have served its purpose. This will in turn lead to more aspiring authors thus ushering in what I hope to call one day the Buuri (same people) renaissance.

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