Yesterday I came across a post reblogged by @tony-duke about the behind the photo contest.
Reading through the blog I initially concluded that this contest wasn't for me because of the following reasons:
I'm not a professional photographer.
I don't have one of the state of the art camera or phone in town.
I'm not good at photo editing and so on.
But as I read down the post I came across where @nelyp categorically emphasized that the picture(s) do not matter much, but the story behind the picture(s).
Then I said to myself Frank you can do this, you got whack pictures with a big story to tell.
So here I go;
During last year easter, April 21st I visited my maternal grandparents in the village.
I haven't been there for about 13 years,
I got to the backyard and saw a mango tree that has been there even the last time I came as a teenager.
Then I asked my uncle why is the mango not bearing fruits already?.
He said he can't tell, that he's planning to cut the tree down.
My 87 year old grandpa heard his son saying he'll cut the tree down for not bearing fruit, he look at me and said it's true you're "Okene"
Okene of any village or community in that part of Igbo land (Abia south senatorial district in Abia state, Nigeria) means a son whose mother is from that community or village.
He said climb the tree with a cutlass and talk to it.
I was like come again grandpaa?
He said when you climb on it, command the tree to bear fruit by this time next year or else I'll cut it down with this same cutlass.
I laughed at the old man because what he asked me to do sounded weird and crazy to me.
I told him I don't believe in superstitions.
Then they, my grannies told me that it has been their belief that Okene has the power if he has the faith to command a barren tree to bear fruits.
I was like what the heck!!!!
Then he looked at me and smile and said son remember:
There is power in spoken words.
It was then I reluctantly took the cutlass to do it.
He sensed the reluctance and the disbelieve in me and said.
You have to believe, or it will never happen.
Then I had this faith in me that I can do it.
So I climbed with the cutlass and said the words and climbed down.
I have forgotten what happen down there last year, when I came home last two weeks my mom said grandma asked of me and she wants me to visit them.
Last week sunday being march 29, I went to the village.
After greeting my grandpa he said go to the backyard and check something out.
Honestly my mind didn't go to the barren mango tree.
And on getting there, to my greatest surprise this is what I saw
I reached my samsung galaxy note 5 and took the shot immediately.
I blurred the background with the default picture editor.
I reduced the quality of the picture to drop the file size so that it can be uploaded here.
To me the pictures are just conventional low quality pictures but the #behindthephoto story matters so much to me that when I have kids I'll tell them this story of how a mango tree bore fruits because I told it to.
On the evening of April 29, 2020 I felt like a magician or miracle worker but I'm non of these things.
What happened was a clear manifestation of the power in belief and faith, and also the power in spoken words (with faith).
Here are some other pictures i took that evening.
Thank you for reading my story.
And remember to stay safe.
https://hive.blog/behindthephoto/@nelyp/behind-the-photo-contest-edition-9
Just tweeted my post on twitter.