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There are dos and donts!' The whole reading took about twenty minutes while the girls<br />

were just listening (see Plate 5).<br />

All the three instructresses and the amayi busa continued to instruct the girls in turns,<br />

without the book. Some points were repeated by all the instructresses. Sometimes refer­<br />

ence was made 'as written in the book.' The following instructions were given not in<br />

this order, but I have arranged them in headings:<br />

Respect. 'We want a Christian girl to show respect for others, for our instruction comes<br />

from the Bible.' All the instructresses emphasized that the girls must respect their chiefs<br />

(mafumu), even when the chief is a drunkard. When a girl meets with a chief on the<br />

way, she must go to the side of the road and kneel for the chief to pass first. Similarly,<br />

all elderly people must be respected too. 'Do not be discouraged when an elder is<br />

requesting you to assist him/her, and do not despise them.' So too the church leaders<br />

must be respected. They must also respect their parents. They should not just walk into<br />

their parent's house without knocking. 70 They may find them naked. When a parent<br />

calls them, they should listen while kneeling down. 'Here we receive a lot ofvisitors, so<br />

you must show respect at church, in the family, and in the community,' commented one<br />

instructress.<br />

During menses. The girls must wear the mthethe or mwele (menses linen) properly so<br />

that even when the flow is heavy, it does not show. If the linen is not enough they can<br />

add cotton wool or dry tassels from corn. One instructress demonstrated with a piece of<br />

cloth. When they start menstruating, they should not go to church or to school for 'chi­<br />

manyanya chikaona anthu!' (the flow becomes heavy when it sees people!) They must<br />

avoid playing with children now that mwakula (you are grown up). They should not<br />

even go closer to their father, for he may smell their menses. The girls must wash them­<br />

selves and change the linen often to avoid bad odour as well as staining their dresses.<br />

'Zimachititsa manyazi kuti zidzionekera. Anthu azati, Kodi sanalangizidwe?' (It is a<br />

shameful thing for people to see a girl's dress stained with blood. They will ask 'Were<br />

the girls instructed at all?') They should not use their parents' bathroom but must use<br />

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