Written By: Britney Matey
There once lived a girl by the name of Sundai Kisi, in the town of Dumasi, Ghana. Her town was hidden from many and not as accessible to outsiders and even residents from other towns within Ghana. The journey to reach Dumasi was far too long, bumpy, windy, and dangerous. Many would try to make the journey but end up giving up or being stranded. Those who made it were never the same as they were before that journey for the land of Dumasi was grand, unique, rich, full of life. Dumasi was peaceful, they did not engage in war with any outsiders although others despised their lack of engagement. Dumasi focused on the needs of their people and made sure no one suffered. No one could complain because they ultimately had everything they needed and wanted.
Sundai was just 12 years old and had never left Dumasi. Born into the royal family of Kisi she had three older brothers, Kwame, Kwesi, Cudjoe, who went by their Christian names Sonny, Spencer, and Stebbins. Her family had always been in the spotlight so everything they did was surveilled. From sunup to sundown, they had to be perfect. She was always told “Smile, Sundai, they’re looking” and before she knew it, she could not stop smiling. Sundai and her brothers were never close. They would walk by each other and not say a word in private or in kindness, for she was just a girl to them. Every Tuesday, the Kisi family would have weekly showings where the public would come to their house with gifts of goods and labor. Sundai and her family smiled, laughed, and acted the closest they have ever been with hugs, holding hands, and smiles. “What a beautiful loving family!” the people of Dumasi exclaimed every chance they got. That was the closest Sundai had gotten to her brothers and the most she could ever even hope to speak with them.
One Tuesday morning, the family gathered while the family patriarch, Colby Kisi, was giving one of his great speeches, “Go Further Than You Think You Can Go!” Some even recited the speech word for word with him and exclaimed his powerful phrases as he exclaimed. Sundai felt this was just so repetitive and that everyone had just become worse than sheep, as this was his 38th time giving this speech. In the crowd, it was always the same faces, standing in almost the same positions and wearing the same outfits. Afterall, there was nothing else to do or nowhere else to go. But on this Tuesday, Sundai saw a man who did not look like the rest, who wasn’t smiling, but wasn’t frowning either. She saw he was looking at her father, Colby, without a blink and didn’t break his stare. Sundai caught this and wondered if her father noticed this as well.
When the speech was over,the crowd cheered them off with the same loud and joyous applause they had gotten every Tuesday. “Why was that man staring you down like that?” Sundai said with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood, while walking back into their house. Her father kept walking and did not say a word, instead he looked straight ahead and frightened.
More Tuesdays passed by, and the same man kept showing and Sundai noticed he was getting closer to the podium and her father could no longer hide his fright and discomfort. Week after week, Sundai asked her father about this man, but realized no matter how often she asked or how close the man got to her father, he would not give her an answer. After the 4th Tuesday this happened, Sundai snuck away from her family to investigate more about this man and what business he could have with her father.
“Who are you kind sir? I know you are not here for my father’s speech!” Sundai said, very curious, but also trying to stay respectful and discreet. He turned to her as if he saw a ghost and hurriedly walked away. Sundai noticed that though he was fully covered, his face drooped and he had very thin limbs. This man looked rather ravenous and sick.
Sundai followed this man as he hurried away out of Dumasi. His feet brushed through the sand trying to escape, and while Sundai tried keeping up, she scraped her foot on a small stone. That didn’t stop her. She lost him but followed his distinct footprints, very wide but extremely deep. The transition from Dumasi to the outside was shocking. It was dark, there were no roads, just sand on the ground and dust in the air, making it hard to see. But Sundai was determined to find out who this man was.
She finally caught up with him after her 45-minute journey, finding him cradling a pot of FuFu. “Hello, again. I don’t want to be a bother; however, I want to know what business you have with my father”, Sundai said to him. The man looked up very impressed that Sundai was able to make the journey out of Dumasi. With his arm, he gestured for her to sit down.
“I was once friends with your father Colby. I trusted him and told him about one of my family’s greatest treasures, the magic Fufu stick.” Sundai knew exactly which Fufu stick he was speaking of, but she never knew why they handled it with such care. “That stick was passed down in my family. My ancestors used that stick in wars and it has helped them come through victorious. It brings health and feeds the hungry. Your father heard this and stole it to use it for his own greed. He built your country, and while it is indeed beautiful, he left the outsiders to die. That is why there is no life out here. I saved many people, and they are depending on me. I must retrieve the FuFu stick.”
The tears in her eyes expressed Sundai’s her remorse for their suffering. “I will get you back your family’s Fufu stick back!” Sundai spoke, making her way out. The man stood up, shocked that a young girl like her so confidently would go against her family to help him when he had been looking for help for so long.
As she voyaged back, she looked around at the emptiness outside of her beautiful land, Dumasi. The desolation she saw felt endless, so she knew she had to help that man. She got back and her family was worried where she had been as she had never wandered off like this. She refused to look her father in the eye, and he wondered at what that could mean. So, although he planned to hide the Fufu stick the next morning when the children were out, Sundai took it that night when she was sure that everyone was asleep.
She made the trip once more, not knowing how to feel about what she had done, to say nothing of what her father had done. Yet, as she entered the old man’s hut, to her surprise she saw that he and her father were waiting there for her. They smiled upon her as her father said, “For this was a test. The FuFu stick is not magic. You were the only sibling among Sonny, Spencer, and Stebbins, who dared to do the right thing and you have passed. Dumasi will be blessed to have you as the next queen of Dumasi because of your true nobility”.
Indeed, as the years passed, Sundai grew in strength and wisdom and when king Colby himself passed, she was enthroned in joy and glory. The FuFu stick was her symbol of power and she kept it by her side. Her reign was long and while she kept Dumasi prosperous and content, she did not fail to ensure the comfort of the outside lands and peoples. She, a girl, at first doubted by her brothers who could not help but wonder, “How could she pass the test? How did we not see that there was one?”.
This is a story for those capable or desirous of understanding. Tell it, as I have told you. This is the story of Sundai, the first queen of Dumasi.
