FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

With regard to the teaching content, the oral instruction did not cover all the elements
that are in the booklet. Illustration of this is when the instructresses emphasized sexual
purity so that the girls do not become mothers out ofwedlock, none of them mentioned
the danger of sexually transmitted diseases as recorded in the booklet, nor that the girls
were breaking God's command. With the exception of Mtendere church, the rural
churches did not explain the element ofhow the body changes as the girls grow.
Chimenya Church exhibited an element which the other instructresses did not mention
to the girls. Chimenya instructresses had a bathing ritual for the girls where they
checked them for the elongation of the labia minora. One instructress actually empha­
sized that 'this is important for all Chewa women.' This element is not mentioned in the
booklet, but we can see women using common sense in adapting a cultural practice into
the Christian life. Chimenya women did not hide anything of what they do, while the
others said nothing about this element during the ceremony. Instead it came up during
our group discussions. Some instructresses actually mentioned that the booklet lacked
some important information, citing the elongation of the labia minora as the missing
information. While their action could be interpreted as 'hypocrisy,' the truth is that their
actions showed that they were unclear in their understanding, because there had been a
divorcing of the Gospel from culture, and they had not used their vernacular Scriptures
to interpret the rite.
It becomes clear that the instructresses wish to remain true to the teachings of the
booklet, yet they have not been assisted to develop creative ways to help them respond
to the issue ofpuberty. The women have not been helped to discover the significance of
this transition in a young woman's life and so take part in re-interpreting the change
process in order to develop their own response. The greatest need is therefore more
training for the instructresses to be able to make an adequate analysis oftheir culture in
the light of the Gospel in order to re-interpret the life cycle rituals. Many alangizi feel
ill-equipped for their task.
105