Ghana in Focus: Relationships in Ghana Part VIII - Why you MUST support your Wife/ Husband

Can supporting your partner lead to a thriving marriage, or does it risk creating power imbalances and infidelity? Join me, Kwame, as I explore these compelling questions inspired by the dynamic marriage of popular Ghanaian YouTuber Wode Maya and his wife, Miss Trudy. By examining their relationship, we highlight how mutual support has been a cornerstone for both their personal and professional growth, challenging traditional expectations in African marriages. We address how the evolution of gender roles demands that both partners actively contribute to the family's well-being, and how such partnership can strengthen not only marriages but communities, both locally in Ghana and globally within the black community.

Drawing parallels with iconic couples like Michelle and Barack Obama, we dive into the transformative power of prioritizing a partner’s ambitions. This episode underscores the necessity of reciprocal support in relationships, demonstrating how backing each other's goals can foster a nurturing family environment. Listeners will walk away with insights on building successful marriages that resonate far beyond individual lives, ultimately crafting harmonious family structures that benefit wider communities. Join the conversation to discover how a supportive relationship can be the key to a flourishing marriage.

Ultimately, the episode underscores the importance of supportive relationships as the key to flourishing marriages. By examining the transformative power of mutual support, listeners are encouraged to embrace evolving gender roles and actively contribute to their partner's success.

Sources:

Secrets Revealed: Maya and Trudy's Intimate Love Sanctuary Exposed! (youtube.com)

Barack Obama Reacts to Michelle's Claim of Not Liking Him for 10 YEARS of Their Marriage (youtube.com)

Chapters

• 0:04 Supporting Your Partner in Marriage
• 9:57 Supporting Spouse in Marriage

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

Welcome to this week's edition of Ghana in Focus with myself Kwame, ghanaian broadcaster, writer, journalist, broadcaster and entrepreneur. And in this week's edition of Ghana in Focus we're continuing the theme of relationships Should you help your girlfriend or boyfriend, particularly when you're getting married? So, essentially, do you support and help your wife or your husband when you're married? And it follows an interesting take on this by Wadamaya, one of the videos that I tried to get it back. Couldn't get it for you, but I'll discuss that in the podcast. All right, so that's the theme for today's show Should you support your husband or wife? Now, before you get into the show, just to make sure, if you like what you hear, be sure with your friends, your family, social media networks. Subscribe to Ghana Africa in focused on YouTube. We want to get at least 100 subscribers by the end of the year. We probably your family social media networks subscribe to Ghana African Focused on YouTube. We want to get at least 100 subscribers by the end of the year. We probably won't get it, but you know, please subscribe to Ghana African, focused on YouTube. And we're also available on Spotify, where, again, we want to try and get 800 subscribers by the end of the year. So far. We're pushing on 600, so we want to encourage you to subscribe on either YouTube and or Spotify and Spotify just look out for Ghana, africa in Focus. Click the follow button, meaning that every time I upload a new podcast, spotify will notify you.

Speaker 1: 1:44

All right, so let's get into podcast. Should you support your husband or your wife when you're married? Now, this is the back of a recent YouTube that I saw, whereby you know Wadamai, the famous Ghanaian YouTuber, saying that he supports his wife, and there was another YouTuber saying that he doesn't agree with Wadamai and this and that. So I thought it'd be quite interesting, you know, as we have been talking about relationships for most of the year, you know to have a discussion about it. Do you support your husband or your wife when you are in marriage?

Speaker 1: 2:33

Now, some people so, if you look at women, if you support your wife, some men have the opinion that you shouldn't support your wife because, if you do, some men of the opinion that you shouldn't support your wife because, if you do, you know if she, if she, you know, if you support her and she gets fond of a better expression, knowledge or whatever it should ease you, you know she'll go for another man, that kind of thing. And again with some of the women, they said that if you support your husband, you know, then it may not be that beneficial towards the marriage. You know, and I'm thinking well, that's what a marriage is about, when a marriage is a union of not just two families but also two people. And so when these two people come together, it will make common sense that you both support each other and help each other in terms of your goals, aspirations, and particularly you know your individual aspirations, but also as a partnership, a male and female, a woman and a man. You know a wife and husband. In particular, when you decide to have children, you have to support each other in raising those children to become decent human beings. And so I don't really agree with those who say you shouldn't support your wife or you shouldn't support your husband for many, many, many reasons. But I'm just going to give you examples of why it is important to support your wife or support your husband, so that you grow, she grows or he grows, the relationship grows and the relationship becomes successful, the marriage blossoms, etc. So take an example of Wadim Bayer relationship grows and relationship becomes successful, the marriage blossoms, et cetera.

Speaker 1: 4:31

So take an example of Wadim Bayer you know he's helped his now wife, ms Trudy, become the person that she is, and she actually said in one show that I saw I think it was with KSM in Ghana KSM is a famous Ghanaian comedian who does a bit of satire and also does a bit of, you know, interesting politics, looking at Ghana, and he interviewed Wadim Maya and Miss Trudy and Miss Trudy said that you know, wadim Maya has made me the person that I am. If it wasn't for Wadim Maya, I wouldn't be the person that I am today. So Miss Trudy has a massive YouTube channel I think she's got something for about 700,000 subscribers and she said that it was Wadim Maya that taught her how to basically use YouTube as a vehicle for professional development, for growth as a human being, but also as a tool where she can make her money and what they might have said that you know. You know he is her husband and so he feels like he has to help her in terms of, you know, solidifying their marriage relationship. Because he also said that you know, one day I may go broke, but I can rely on my wife because she will have her money and she will help us, you know when I'm broke, which is very important to find, because many African marriages you know when I'm broke, which is very important to find, because many African marriages, you know, ghana, whatever right, nigeria, many African marriages break down because of this thing about money, money, money. And so if you depend on just one partner to bring in the money, right. So, for example, a lot of men, you know, in Africa, ghana, et cetera, they expect the man to go out and make the money for the family and the woman stays in the home looking after the children, that kind of thing you know. But obviously in today's environment women are encouraged to get, you know, employed and you know, know also get a career within the structure of the family, you know. And that helps because you know, and particularly if the manager is a genuine manager, right, and this is where some men, you know, can say this, because if you have a woman right and the woman's not genuine, obviously she's going to go.

Speaker 1: 6:58

So before you marry that woman, you need to know she's genuine, that she genuinely wants to marry you and that she's genuinely interested in developing the relationship and the marriage and take it to the next step or next level. And so when you are courting the woman, you've got to find that out for yourself if the woman that you are courting is wife material and vice versa as as a woman you must be, uh, you must do your homework to decipher if that man that you want to marry is actually a marriage material. Because there's a lot of men out there, right, who you know, say they want to marry but expect the woman to do the cleaning, the cooking you know, and in some cases even get the money for the family. And so, again, as a woman, you must really study the man that you want to be with to understand if he is, you know, married material. Because if you don't and you marry that person, you may get a big shock when you do marry that person. And so it's important that both men and women study their partners that they want to spend the rest of their lives with.

Speaker 1: 8:13

Yeah, and so back to know Miss Trudy and Wadham Meyer. So Miss Trudy said that Wadham Meyer had made me the person that I am because of the support and the development he gave her. So when Wadham Meyer met Miss Trudy and knew that Miss Trudy was going to be his life partner, yeah, even before he sort of recognised that she was the one for him. He, you know, supported her by introducing her to YouTube. You know this is how this medium works, what it can do to help you, to help us make money, so that you know we can look after ourselves and you can become independent, sort of thing. So by helping Miss Trudy, wadamaya not only helped him, not only helped Miss Trudy, but he also helped himself, because she does not 100% depend on Wadamaya for her income. Say, for example, know relationships, you know baking something. But say, for example, if Wadham Maya had not taught Miss Trudy anything about YouTube, professional development, you know how to be independent within the marriage. Say, for example, if they split up, right, miss Trudy would be, you know, she'd not be the same person that she is now. Yeah, and she would need to depend on the man because she hasn't got the skills, the professional development that she needs to be independent within herself and then independent within and contribute towards a marriage.

Speaker 1: 9:57

And so for me, it's very, very important that, a man, you support your wife, that you choose to be a life partner. Why? Because A it helps you and B helps the family. So in times and those times just happen whereby you, as a man, you may be laid off work for whatever reason, or you may not be getting as much income as you normally would because, for example, you may be self-employed and the business is going through lean times. If you support the woman for her career aspirations or some support her in some small business or whatever, she particularly she's a decent woman will support you during your hard times because she knows that once you're back on your feet, you know she knows that you support her and the family. Yeah, so this is why it's important for you, as a man, to support your wife. Again, vice versa, it's important for a woman to support her husband.

Speaker 1: 10:59

Let me give you another example. So Michelle Obama great woman, right. I've heard, listen to many, many interviews that she's done when she was first lady, and you know interviews where she's not been first lady after Barack Obama left office and in that she tells us how you know she supported Barack's ambition to be president, because Barack Obama wanted to be president of the US, but he wouldn't buy his wife first. And I remember Michelle Obama saying if I was selfish I could have said no, I don't want you to run for president of America, but because she saw the bigger picture, I could have said, no, I don't want you to run for President of America. But because she saw the bigger picture and she understood that as a wife, she has a duty to support her husband. She didn't think of her own individual needs. She thought about the bigger picture and thought about, yes, I will support you, barack, in wanting to become US President, and, as we all saw history, what's the term that they use? And thought about, yes, I will support you, barack. He wanted to become US president and, as we all saw history, what's the term that they use? The rest is history.

Speaker 1: 12:04

So Obama became elected in 2009, sorry, 2008. He took office in January 2009, and then, you saw, the rest is history. And obviously, michelle Obama became one of the best first ladies United States has ever happened, has ever seen. Yeah, and that's because the mind between those two and you see it, yeah, the mind between Barack and Michelle Obama is very, very tight. They love each other, they respect each other and they, importantly, support one another's development and growth.

Speaker 1: 12:33

Yeah, so this again is another example of a woman now supporting her husband's aspiration to become US President. Right, and look in the bigger picture and not looking at her own selfish needs. Yeah, so again, a lot of women. You know and I mentioned this before some women in Ghana only out for themselves and what they can get from a man, not understanding that if you support your man, support your husband, help him to develop his career or help him to develop his business, when times are hard, he's there. That support that you gave him, he'll be there for you and the family.

Speaker 1: 13:16

So this is why it's very, very important that men support their wives and wives support their husbands, because we look at the bigger picture, it's not about individual circumstances and needs. Yeah, it's about what the two of you can do together to help each other develop and grow, to help each other's aspirations and, more importantly, why when you have children, children to support the family that you have now created. And this is why it's very, very important that when you are married to somebody, you support that person unconditionally. So, for example, if you marry so if you're a man and you marry a woman and she wants to go to school to be an engineer, it's your duty to support your woman through school so that she becomes an engineer, because you never know the bigger picture, she could work for a multinational company in engineering, or she could even have her own engineering business whereby she's making a lot of money to help you, the man, and also the family as well, and again, woman as well.

Speaker 1: 14:27

If you marry a man and that man has a punch of a business and he wants to be a businessman, you have a duty to that man to support the man in order to realise his aspirations to become a business leader or a successful business person, because if it does, you will enjoy, you will reap the benefits of supporting your husband being that successful businessman, and not have this fear that if I do support my husband, he may run away or he may get a, you know, a lady on the side or whatever. No, don't think of your own selfish needs. Think of the bigger picture in terms of you, the man, and also the family, and so you know. This is why it's very, very important that men, women, you support each other, particularly in marriage, because that's what marriage is about.

Speaker 1: 15:23

Marriage is not about individual needs. It's about, you know, the collective needs of the female and the collective needs of the male, and how those two can be fused in order for the betterment of both individuals but, more importantly, the betterment of both individuals, but, more importantly, the betterment of the family unit as a whole. Yeah, and by supporting each other and help each other to realize their human aspirations. That's create successful marriages, yeah, and successful families. And this is what we want to see in Ghana, but also in the wider global black community. We want to see successful mothers. We want to see mothers thrive and be successful, and the way they can they can be successful is that if the man respects his woman and helps her realize their potential in their dreams, likewise, the woman must support her man, respect the man and help him, support him, you know, to realise his dreams and aspirations. Yeah, because that makes for a very, very successful marriage and also makes for harmonious male-female relationships and also harmonious family structure.

Speaker 1: 16:39

And so I hope you've enjoyed this interesting edition of Garnet Focus looking about why a man should support his wife and why a wife should support her husband, you know, in a marriage context, and looking at some of the nuances, why it is important to support your spouse, you know, within a marriage relationship. All right, so next week in Ghana Focus, it should be a month until Ghana's elections, so we're having a special looking at the election in Ghana. What are some of the topics or some of the issues at hand in the election, and I'll give you my personal take on who Ghanaian should vote for so you don't want to miss that election special next week in Ghanaian Focus. And so for myself, kwame, and for more of the crew here on Ghanaian Focus, thank you very much for listening and we'll see you next week for some more Ghana in Focus.