I would like to be bought with 8 cows, please.....!!

For those of you who are familiar with Johnny Lingo (see explanation/link below if not), this practice is still held in some cultures. It’s not always cows, but it’s always some sort of price for the bride. And I’d bet that it was never 8 cows. But that was a happy, ‘feel good’ story to make a point.
The problem with this traditional bride price in Northern Uganda is that there are no more cows. During the war, many people had their cattle stolen. Which meant that their wealth was stolen. They had no way to support their family. There had to be other ways to get a wife, but many had no means. And still don’t.
There are some, in the younger generation, that don’t feel it is a necessary tradition, but many still do. Even a girl my age said she feels it’s a good thing to keep the bride price. It’s a token of how much he wants to have her as his wife. In a way, that’s true. I think that, maybe differently but similarly, western culture should adopt this idea. But marriage is not thought of the same way.
And there’s definitely no 8 cow wives that I know of these days.

Johnny Lingo: There once was a father who had a homely daughter. She, Mohana, was the laughing stock of the village. The father had given up all hope of anyone offering a bride price for her hand in marriage. There was a very wealthy man in the village –he had many cows, goats, and land – and he came to her father one day. Many people in the village followed him, being nosy and wanting to know what business they had together. Johnny Lingo, the wealthy man, asked the father how much he wanted for Mohana. The father said that he could only hope for a cow. Johnny said, “No.”  The father thought that was probably true, maybe she wasn’t worth a full cow. So he asked for only part of a cow. Johnny again said, “No.” The man insisted that he give 8 cows for the daughter. The father thought for sure he misunderstood the man. But Johnny insisted that she was worth at least 8 cows and that’s what he would pay for her, nothing less. The father agreed, the village all laughed at him, and Johnny said he would be back the next day with the cows.
The next morning arrived. Father did not expect to actually see Johnny again. But here comes Johnny, with all 8 cows. The father, along with the village, was all astounded and kept telling the man that he was wasting his cows. He did not even have to pay for the daughter with one full cow; he could’ve used a goat. Johnny insisted he was right and this was the correct price, if not more.
Johnny’s ultimate motivation was making Mohana feel worthy of 8 cows. When the women of the village gather to discuss how much they were bought for marriage, how would she feel if she was bought with only one cow? No, Johnny couldn’t let that happen to her. The way others see a woman is important, but how a woman feels about herself is the most important thing.   http://youtu.be/pfahoLfrddU