Poverty Will Make You Believe Anything, Even That Kontomire Gives Blood — Joselyn Dumas

Joselyn Dumas has said something that many Ghanaians laughed at at first, but when you think about it deeply, it will touch your heart.

Award-winning Ghanaian actress, television presenter and movie producer, Joselyn Dumas, has boldly declared that poverty can make people think irrationally.

She said it during an interview with Tony Best on Akoma FM. And to prove her point, she switched to Twi and dropped a proverb that has now got everybody talking.

“Ohia ma nnipa dwene se kontomire ma mogya.”

In simple English: Poverty makes people think that kontomire gives blood.

At first, it sounds funny. Kontomire is just kontomire. It is a leaf we use for stew. It cannot give blood. Everybody knows that.

But Joselyn Dumas is not talking about kontomire. She is talking about poverty.

When a person is poor, when a person is hungry, when a person has no money for hospital, no money for food, no money for medicine, that person will believe anything that gives them hope.

If someone tells a poor mother that kontomire will give her child blood, she will believe it. Not because she is foolish. But because she is desperate. She has no other option.

If someone tells a poor man that a certain leaf will cure his sickness, he will try it. Not because he does not know better. But because he cannot afford the real drug.

Poverty does not just empty your pocket. It also messes with your mind. It makes you think small. It makes you accept anything. It makes you chase anything that looks like a solution, even when it is not a solution.

That is the painful truth Joselyn Dumas is pointing to.

How many Ghanaians today are believing lies because they are poor? How many are following fake pastors because they are poor? How many are joining fake investment schemes because they are poor? How many are taking dangerous drugs because they are poor? How many are selling their bodies, their votes, their dignity, because they are poor?

Poverty makes a smart person do foolish things. Poverty makes a strong person beg. Poverty makes a proud person kneel.

Joselyn Dumas is not insulting poor people. She is defending them. She is saying: Do not laugh at poor people when they believe strange things. Instead, ask why they are so poor that they have to believe those things.

If Ghana was working well, if jobs were available, if hospitals were affordable, if food was cheap, nobody would need to believe that kontomire gives blood. They would just go to the hospital and get real help.

But when the system fails you, you start to believe in anything.

So the next time you hear someone say kontomire gives blood, do not laugh. Ask yourself: What has poverty done to this person? What has this country done to this person?

Joselyn Dumas has spoken the truth many people are afraid to say.

Poverty is not just about having no money. Poverty is about having no choice.

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